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Central University of Kashmir
Department of Education
M.A. Education Programme
E-Content
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
M.A. Education Semester I
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EDU C 102: SOCIOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
UNIT 4: CULTURE AND EDUCATION
PREPARED BY: DR. MOHAMMAD
SAYID BHAT
CULTURE AND EDUCATUION
Learning outcomes:
When we go through this unit, we will be able to:
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Understand the nature of culture
Understand the characteristics of culture
Differentiate between civilization and culture
Understand measures for determination of culture
Understand dimensions of culture with their classification
Understand different components of culture
Understand different approaches of culture
Understand acculturation and its outcome
Understand cultural reproduction with its different types and role of education
Understand the relationship between education and culture.
1. INTRODUCTION
Culture is unique property of man. It is one of the distinguishing traits of human
society. Culture does not exist at the sub-human level. Only man is born and brought in a
cultural environment. Other animals live in a natural environment. Every man is born into a
society is the same as saying that every man is born into a culture. The dictum Man is a social
animal may thus be redefined as man is a cultural being. Every man can be regarded as a
representative of his culture. Culture is the unique quality of man which separates him from
the lower animals.
In common parlance the ‘culture’ is understood to mean beautiful, refined or
interesting. But this interpretation does not constitute its scientific definition. Culture is
precisely defined in sociology. Some major definitions are the following:
Edward B. Taylor, “Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art,
morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society.”
Redfield, “An organized body of conventional understanding manifested in art and artifact
which persisting through tradition characterizes human groups.”
Joseph Piper, “Culture is the quintessence of all natural goods of the world and those gifts and
qualities which, while belonging to man, life beyond the immediate sphere of his needs and
wants.”
White, “Culture is a symbolic, continuous, cumulative and progressive process.
In this way, culture includes all that man has acquired in the mental and intellectual
sphere of his individual and social life. In the words of MacIver and Page, “This is the realm of
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styles, of values, of emotional attachments, of intellectual adventures. Culture, then, is the
antithesis of civilization. It is the expression of our nature in our modes of living and thinking,
in our everyday intercourse, in art, in literature, in recreation and enjoyment.”
M. K Gandhi, “Culture is the foundations of the primary thing. It should show itself in the
smallest detail of your conduct and personal behaviour, how you sit, how you walk, how you
drink, etc.”
J. Nehru, “Culture is widening of the mind and the spirit.”
Malinowski, “Culture is the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his
ends.”
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
Following are some important characteristics of culture:
 Culture is inclusive of those elements which man has created and in which he
can make improvements.
 The introduction of novel element increases the complexity and qualities of
culture.
 It is communicated from one generation to another generation in a psychic
form.
 Culture is found only in human society.
 Culture is consistent and integrated.
 Culture exists as a continuous process.
 Culture is something which is shared.
 Culture is the product of society.
 Culture is not inherited biologically but learnt socially.
 Culture determines and guides the varied activities of man.
 Culture differs from society to society.
 Culture is super organic and ideational in nature.
Culture and society are not one and the same. A culture is a system of
behaviour shared by the members of a society. A society is a group of people who
shared a common culture. As Lalph Linton puts it, “A society is an organized group of
individuals. A culture is an organized group of learned responses characteristic of a
particular society.”
A society is composed of people who are interacting on the basis of shared
beliefs, customs, values and activities. The common patterns which govern their
interaction make up the culture of the society. As Gillin and Gillin have pointed out,
“culture is the cement binding together into a society its component individuals….
human society is people interacting; culture is the patterning of the behaviour…..”
3. NATURE OF CULTURE
Important facts concerning the nature of culture are as under:
 The Nature is an Acquired Quality
Culture is not innate. Traits learn through socialization, habits and thoughts are
what is called culture. Man acquires the cultural behaviour because he has the
capability of symbolic communication.
 Culture is Communicative
In this way culture is communicated from one generation to another. As a
result of this, culture is constantly accumulating. The new generation benefits
by the experience of the older generation through the communicability of
culture. In this way, culture becomes semi-temporary and remains unaffected
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by the extinction of a group or an individual.
Culture is Social, not Individual
Every individual takes some part in the transmission and communication of
culture, but culture is social rather than individual. It is inclusive of the
expectation of the members of groups.
Culture is Idealistic
Culture includes those ideal patterns or ideal norms of behaviour according to
which the members of society attempt to conduct themselves. Society accepts
these ideals, norms and patters.
Culture fulfills some Needs
Culture fulfills those ethical and social needs which are ends in themselves.
Social habits are included in culture. Habits can be formed of those activities
only which tend to fulfill some needs, without fulfilling these needs culture
cannot exist.
Culture has the Characteristic of Adaptation
Culture is constantly undergoing change in concurring to the environment and
due to this transformation it is constantly being adapted to external force but
once it is developed; the influence of the natural environment begins to
decrease. Besides, the various aspects of culture are also undergoing
development and some internal adaptation among them consequently being
necessitated.
Culture has the Quality of Becoming Integrated
Culture possesses an order and a system. Its various parts are integrated with
each other and any new element which is introduced is also integrated. Those
cultures which are more open to external influence are comparatively more
heterogeneous but nevertheless some degree of integration is evident in all
cultures.
Thus, culture is social, idealistic and acquired and fulfills man’s needs. It possesses the characteristics of
communication, adaptation and integration. It is a special quality of man. It is an evidence of his social
heritage.
4. CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
Sociologists are not unanimous in their opinion concerning the relation between
culture and civilization. Some important views in this regard are as under:
Civilization is the developed form of Culture
According to J.L. Gillin and J.P. Gillin, “Civilization is a more complex and evolved form
of culture.” A.W. Green has written, “A culture becomes civilization only when it possesses
written language, science, philosophy, a specialized division of labour and complex technology
and political system.” Ancient culture did not possess all these elements and would
consequently be considered as having no civilization. Franz Boas, Ogburn and Nimkoff also
treated civilization as a state which follows culture. Ogburn have written, “Civilization may be
defined as the latter phase of super organic culture.”
According to Webber, “Civilization includes useful material objects and the methods of
producing and using them whereas culture consists of the ideals, values and the mental and
emotional aspects of a group.” Morton, Richard Thurnwald and many other sociologists have
subscribed to this opinion. Only P.A. Sorokin has opposed it. But this is the opinion most
widely prevalent among the sociologists today.
According to MacIver and Page, “Civilization includes all those things by means of
which some other objective is attained such as typewriters, press, motor etc., in civilization are
included both basic technology which means the authority of man over natural phenomenon
as well as social technology or model which controls man’s behaviour. On the other hand,
culture comprehends such elements as religion, art, philosophy, literature, music, etc., which
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bring satisfaction and pleasure to man.” In the words of MacIver and Page, “It is the expression
of our nature in our modes of living and of thinking, in our everyday intercourse, in art, in
literature, in reaction and enjoyment.”
Difference between Culture and Civilization
According to MacIver and Page, culture and civilization differ in the following respects:
Civilization has a precise standard of measurement but not Culture
The universal standard of civilization is utility because civilization is a means. Culture
has no similar qualitative or quantitative standard of measurement because culture is an end
in itself. The elements, ideas, values and thoughts etc. of culture change in accordance with the
time and place.
Civilization is always advancing but not Culture
The various constituents of civilization like machines, means of transportation and
communication, etc., are constantly changing and progressing. But concerning culture, it
cannot be asserted that the art, literature, thoughts or ideals of today are superior to those of
the past.
Civilization is passed on without effort, but not Culture
Objects comprehended by civilization have utility and are connected with the external
life of man. Hence, they can be adapted from one generation to another or from one country to
another is not communicated and adapted with equal facility because it is related to an inner
tendency and can be adapted only after appropriate inner development. In the words MacIver,
“Culture is communicated only to the like–minded.” No one without the quality of the artist
can appreciate art, nor without the ear of the musician can one enjoy music. Civilization, in
general, makes no such demand. We can enjoy its products without sharing the capacity which
creates them. ‘Civilization can be adopted without effort. The adoption of culture depends
upon personality and nature.’
Civilization is borrowed without change or loss but not Culture
When civilization is borrowed by a country or a generation other than its originator, it
does not suffer any deterioration or loss or damage. Railway, motor, aircraft, machine, etc., are
borrowed as they are but the elements of culture such as religion, art, literature, thoughts,
ideas, etc., can never be borrowed in their original character.
Culture is internal and an end while Civilization is external and a means
Civilization is inclusive of external things, culture is related to internal thoughts,
feelings, ideals, values, etc. Civilization is the means for the express in and manifestation of
culture. It is the body and culture the soul.
5. MEASURES FOR DETERMINATION
Two types of measures can be employed for determination of cultural progress:
Quantitative Measures
New elements are always being introduced into culture while the older ones keep
vanishing. If the number of new elements introduced is greater than those which have
vanished, then there is progress. If the latter excess the former then there is deterioration and
if the two are equal then there is immobility. Invention is a measure of the progress of culture.
Qualitative Measure
Culture would be said to be progressing when the newly introduced elements are
superior in quality to the existing ones, and would be said to be deteriorating if they are
inferior. The elements of continuity are always to be found in a progressive culture.
But many difficulties are encountered in the cultural application of these measures in
the cultural sphere, and it is also difficult to form an ultimate criterion of them because
thinkers of all times and in all places would not concur in their respective opinions in this
connection.
6. DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE
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Culture like society is a term used frequently and sometimes vaguely. Often the culture
is used to refer to the acquiring of refined taste in classical music, dance forms, painting etc.
This refined taste was thought to distinguish people from the uncultured masses. But
sociologists look at culture not as something that distinguish individuals but as a way of life in
which all members of society participate.
So far as the dimensions of culture are concerned, sociologists have classified culture
into three basic but broad dimensions:
COGNITIVE DIMENSION
This refers to how we learn to process what we hear or see, so as to give it meaning
(identifying the ring of a cell phone as ours, recognizing the cartoon of a politician).
The cognitive aspects of one’s own culture are harder to recognize than its material
aspects (which are tangible or visible or audible) and its normative aspects (which are
explicitly stated). Cognition refers to understanding, how we make sense of all the information
coming to us from our environment. In literate societies ideas are transcribed in books and
documents and preserved in libraries, institutions or archives. But in non-literate society’s
legend or lore is committed to memory and transmitted orally. There are specialists
practitioners of oral tradition who are trained to remember and narrate during ritual or
festive occasions.
In societies like ours, historically literacy has been made available only to the more
privileged. Sociological studies are often concerned with investigating how literacy can be
made relevant to the lives of people whose families have never gone to school. This can lead to
unexpected responses, like a vegetable-seller who asked why he needed to know the alphabet
when he could mentally calculate what his customers owed him.
The contemporary world allows us to rely far more on written, audio and visual
records. Yet students on Indian Classical Music are still discouraged from writing down what
they learn rather than carrying it in their memory. We still do not know enough about the
impact of the electronic media, of multiple channels, of instant accessing and surfing. Do we
think these new forms impact our attention span and cognitive culture?
NORMATIVE DIMENSION
This refers to rules of conduct (not opening other people’s letters, performing rituals
at death). The normative dimension consists of mores, folkways, customs, conversions, and
laws. These are values or rules that guide our social behaviour in different contexts. We most
often follow social norms because we are used to do it as a result of socialization. All social
norms are accompanied by sanctions that promote conformity.
While norms are implicit rules, laws are explicit rules. Pierce Bourdieu, the French
sociologist, has reminded us that when we try to understand another culture’s norms, we
must remember that there are certain implicit understandings. For example, if a person wants
to show gratitude for something he has been given, he should not offer a return gift too
quickly, or it seems like an attempt to get rid of a debt, not a friendly gesture.
A law is a formal sanction defined by government as a rule or principle that its citizens
must follow. Laws are explicit. They are applicable to the whole society. And a violation of the
law attracts penalties and punishments.
If in our home children are not allowed to stay outdoors after sunset that is a norm. It
is specific to our family and may not be applicable to all families. However, if we are caught
stealing something from someone else’s home, we have violated the universally accepted law
of private property and can be sent prison after trial as punishment.
Laws, which derive from the authority of the state, are the most formal definitions of
acceptable behaviour. While different schools may establish different norms for students, laws
would apply to all those accepting the authority of the state. Unlike laws, norms can vary
according to status. Dominant sections of the society apply dominant norms. Often these
norms are discriminating. For example, norms that did not allow dalits from drinking water
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from the same vessel or even source, or women from moving freely in the public sphere. Thus,
the common terms used in normative aspect of culture are categorized as under.
Norm
In sociology, we often use the term ‘norm’. Norms are the specific cultural expectations
for how to behave in a given situation. They are the agreed-upon expectations and rules by
which the members of a culture behave. Norms vary from culture to culture, so some things
that are considered norms in one culture may not be in another culture. For example, in
America it is a norm to maintain direct eye contact when talking with others and it is often
considered rude if you do not look at the person you are speaking with. In India, on the other
hand, averting your eyes when conversing with others is a sign of politeness and respect while
direct eye contact is considered rude.
Thus, in sociology, norms are rules of conduct that specify appropriate behaviour in a
given range of social context. A norm either prescribes a given type of behaviour or forbids it.
All human groups follow definite types of norms, which are always backed by sanctions of one
kind or another varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment or execution.
There are four basic types of norms that sociologists commonly refer to: folkways, mores,
taboos, and laws.
Folkways
Folkways, in sociology, are norms for routine or casual interaction. This includes ideas
about appropriate greetings and proper dress in different situations. In short, mores
‘distinguish the difference between right and wrong, while folkways draw a line between right
and rude’. Both mores and folkways are terms coined by William Graham Sumner in 1906.
Thus, folkways are often referred to as ‘customs.’ They are standards of behaviour that
are socially approved but not morally significant. They are norms for everyday behaviour that
people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience. Breaking a folkway does not usually
have serious consequences. Cultural forms of dress or food habits are examples of folkways.
Wearing loose clothes for women in India is a folkway but if someone wars very tight Kameez
Shilvar she will violate the folkway and no formal punishment will be given to her. Folkways
are a set of norms in a social system that governs commonly accepted practices, customs, and
habits that make up the fabric of everyday life. In comparison with other norms, folkways tend
to involve relatively unimportant matters of behaviour and appearance and carry sanctions
that are correspondingly mild.
Mores
Mores have been derived from the Latin word mōrēs, grammatically plural which
means ‘behaviour’. William Graham Sumner (1840–1910), an early U.S. sociologist, recognized
that some norms are more important to our lives than others. Sumner coined the term mores
to refer to norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. Mores include
an aversion for societal taboos, such as incest. Consequently, the values and mores of a society
predicate legislation prohibiting their taboos.
Mores are strict norms that control moral and ethical behaviour. Mores are norms
based on definitions of right and wrong. Unlike folkways, mores are morally significant. People
feel strongly about them and violating them typically results in disapproval. Religious
doctrines are an example of mores. For instance, if someone were to attend any family in the
nude, he or she would offend most people of that culture and would be morally shunned. Also,
parents who believe in the more that only married people should live together will disapprove
of their daughter living with her boyfriend. They may consider the daughter’s actions a
violation of their moral guidelines.
Mores are a set of norms that define the most fundamental ideas about what is considered
right and wrong, or moral in human behaviour. Mores typically take the form of laws with
strong sanctions such as imprisonment or ostracism. From a sociological perspective, moral
behaviour has four basic characteristics:
 It never has the actor’s self-interest as its major goal.
 It has a quality of command through which each person feels an obligation to do what
is right.
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 It is experienced as being desirable and some satisfaction and pleasure is derived from
it.
 It is regarded as sacred in the sense that its authority is experienced as beyond human
control.
Taboos
A taboo is a norm that society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme
disgust. Often times the violator of the taboo is considered unfit to live in that society. For
instance, in Muslim culture, eating pork is taboo. At the more extreme end, incest and
cannibalism are taboos in most countries.
Laws
A law is a norm that is written down and enforced by an official law enforcement
agency. Driving while drunk, theft, murder, and trespassing are all examples of laws in our
country. If violated, the person violating the law could get cited, owe a fine, or sent to jail.
MATERIAL DIMENSION
This includes any activity made possible by means of materials. Materials also include
tools or machines. Examples include internet chatting, using motor cars, computers etc.
It may have occurred to we people that our understanding of material culture
especially art, is incomplete without knowledge acquired from the cognitive and normative
areas. It is true that our developing understanding of social process would draw upon all these
areas. But we might find that in a community where few have acquired the cognitive skills of
literacy, it in fact becomes the norm for private letters to be read out by a third party.
Thus, the material aspect refers to tools, technologies, machines, buildings and modes
of transportation, as well as instruments of production and communication. In urban areas the
widespread use of mobile phones, music systems, cars and buses, ATM’s, and computers in
everyday life indicates the dependence on technology. Even in rural areas the use of
transportation, transistors or motor pumps for lifting water from below the surface for
irrigation demonstrates the adaptation of technological devices for increasing production.
To sum up, there are two principle dimensions of culture ‘Material and Non material’.
While the cognitive and normative aspects are non-material, the material dimension is crucial
to increase production and enhance the quality of life. For integrated functioning of a culture
the material and non-material dimensions must work together. But when the material or
technological dimensions change rapidly, the non-material aspects can lag behind in terms of
values and norms. This can give rise to a situation of cultural lag when the non-material
dimensions are unable to match advances of technology.
7. CLASSIFICATION OF DIMENSIONS
The dimensions of culture can be briefly classified under the following heads:
a) GROUP BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS
 Folkways
 Norms
 Customs
 Mores
 Laws
 Traditions
 Beliefs
 Stereotypes
 Sanctions
 Legends
 Myths
 Fashions
b) LITERATURE
 Language
 Drama
 Poetry
c) ART AND ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS
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Prose
Story
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d) RELIGION
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Music
Sculpture
Photography
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Dance
Painting
Architecture
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Worship
Ritual
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Sacrifice
Collective Prayer
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Noble Acts
Personality
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Reverence
e) ETHICS
f) EDUCATIONAL AND RECREATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
 Library
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 Museum
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 Club
g) SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
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Community Hall
Parliament
Assembly
complex
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Secretariat
AG’s Office
Labour House
Market
Workshops
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Factory
h) COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
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Cinema
Theater
8. CULTURAL LAG
The word ‘lag’ connotes crippled movement. Hence cultural lag means the faltering of
one aspect of culture behind another. For example, if either the material or the non-material
aspect of culture were to stay behind the other, it would be a case of cultural lag. It is generally
observed that material culture progresses faster in comparison with non- material culture.
OGBURN’S THEORY
The term ‘cultural lag’ originated in a famous sociologist W.F. Ogburn’s treatise
entitled ‘Social Change’. Thus, the term was coined by Ogburn. According to him, culture has
two aspects, one material and the other non- material. The material aspects as compared with
the non- material tends to progress rapidly. Thus, the non-material part lags behind. It is this
faltering action which is termed as cultural lag. Defining cultural lag in their ‘Hand book of
sociology’ Ogburn and Nimkoff have written, “The strain that exists between two correlated
parts of culture that change at unequal rates of speed may be interpreted as a lag in the part
that is changing at the slower rate for the knee lags behind the other.”
The main cause is that the various elements of culture possess varying degrees of
changeability. Changes in religious opinions are slow and few. It is doubtful whether the major
religions viz. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism have undergone any change in the
last few hundred years although major changes in the dress, standard of living, methods and
even the values of life of their respective followers are only too apparent. The same slow
speed of change is true not only of the major religions but also of the religions of ancient
tribes. Similar to religion, the speed of change in law is also slow though not quite as slow as
the change in religion. A major cause contributing to the slow speed of change in law is that
traditions are deeply respected in law. In many countries, particularly in India, traditions are
valued very highly. The judges dispense justice on the basis of precedents. New laws are
enacted only when extreme difficulty is experienced in some sphere due to their absence. It is
evident that laws change after other changes have taken place. For example, in the earliest
days of the Industrial Revolution the number of factories increased rapidly and they employed
women and children in addition to the men. There was no law pertaining to the hours of work
of these labourers, their wages and working conditions; hence the capitalist, taking advantage
of their helpless condition, exploited the labourers causing widespread dissatisfaction. Only
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then did the government wakeup to the predicament, and the labour laws came into existence.
Even now many examples can be cited of cases where changing conditions have necessitated
newer and more adequate legislation which has not been enacted or implemented. In India,
the question of coloration of hydrogenated vegetable oil is a case in point. Like the labourers,
the women had to launch movements for a long period before they could manage to have laws
concerning their rights. Technology progresses at a faster rate than does non-material culture.
But even technology, the rate of change is not uniform everywhere. For example, at present
the speed of change in electrical science is faster than the speed of change in biology.
Similarly, cultural lag is responsible for the existing international tension. Science has
made the world a small one. The discovery of atomic power has precipitated as stages in
which there should be a solid organization of the human race on an international scale so that
a vicious fire of the entire world may be avoided even if there is a spark. But the hearts of men
are as yet unprepared for such a change. Narrow nationalism has not yet vanished, but is
assuming aggressive forms in some spheres. In addition to the difference in the rate of change
of the various elements of culture, one major cause of cultural lag is man’s psychological
dogmatism. Man commonly respects old concepts and dogmas or moors. He finds it
convenient to follow the path of his ancestors. In such spheres as a religion, novelty is not only
objected to but also regarded as a sign of depravity.
Criticism
Many sociologists have indulged in bitter criticism of Ogburn’s theory of cultural lag.
According to Meullar, cultural lag is artificial and imaginary. Some other scholars regard it as a
very simple background to the understanding of social change. James W. Woodard and R.M.
MacIver have put forward the following objections to Ogburn’s theory of cultural lag;
 Ogburn’s distinction between material and non-material culture is not clear.
Again, it is not necessary that non-material culture should invariable lag behind
material culture.
 A major defect of Ogburn’s theory lies in the fact that the same term cultural lag
has been employed for all disequilibrium occurring in the process of social
change. MacIver has, in this connection, suggested the use of many terms for
the various types of disequilibrium and conflicts, such as technological lag,
technological restraint, cultural clash, cultural ambivalence, etc.
 According to cultural lag, one thing proceeds forward while another lags or
restricts. Hence, this word should not be used in the context of those objects in
whose case the encouraging as well as the restraining objects are similar and
possess a common standard of evaluation.
9. CULTURAL COMPLEX
The simple unit of culture is the cultural trait. These cultural traits develop
concurrently and collect together like a bunch of flowers and again in their importance in
terms of the degree of significance they have for the behaviour of human beings. This bunch of
collected traits is called a cultural complex. These cultural complexes are formed according to
the various needs of life. In this way culture complexes concerning food habits, the different
occupations etc.; can be seen in different cultures. Examples of culture complexes found in
Indian culture are in the form of the caste system, joint family system, the principle of Karma,
etc. Metallic utensils are indicative of the culture complex concerning food habits in Indian
culture. Among these culture complexes, some develop more than the others and become
more influential and affective. But in any one culture, these culture complexes exhibit a high
degree of concurrence among themselves. Cultural patterns, which are representative of the
unique nature of any culture, are formed by them.
10.
CULTURAL GROWTH
The development of culture is continuous process. In this process while the experience
of the proponents of one culture are accumulated and handed down from one generation to
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another on the one hand, new elements from other cultures are introduced through
accommodation, cross fertilization and diffusion, on the other, and culture progress as a result
of their unification. The existing developed culture of any society is a result of these processes
carried out over a period of time. In this development the rate of progress is not uniform it is
moving towards progress, at other towards deterioration. In order to understand cultural
growth properly, it is necessary to understand those processes of cultural growth which are
mentioned above briefly, these processes are the following:
Accumulation
To begin with, individual experiments with an object but which he knows virtually
nothing. Of the various experiments he makes, he discards those which have proved fruitless
and adopts those for subsequent application which have been successful. In this way, the
experience gained in this experimentation is accumulated and passed on by one generation to
its successor as the social heritage. The development of language has been of tremendous
value in this accumulation. New experiments continue to be made, in addition to these,
experiments for inventions increase along with the increase in needs. It has been said that
necessity is the mother of invention. In this way, both the material and non-material aspects of
culture progress through such accumulation. The accumulation continues uninterrupted.
Accommodation
The new ideals which have been acquired through diffusion have to be accommodated
with the other features of the culture. It is only through having accommodated themselves
with Indian culture that the numerous objects and various element of western culture which
have been acquired and adopted in India have become a part of our life and have added to our
progress.
Cross Fertilization
The conjunction of two cultures is beneficial to both, since it does not happen that one
should borrow from the other exclusively. This process of mutual give and take is called cross
fertilization. Due to this culture retains its vitality and life.
Acculturation
When such a conjunction of two cultures occurs, causing cultural growth, and they are
intimately related rather than identified the process of contraculturation also sets in. It is the
opposite of the process of acculturation.
Assimilation
In this process of cultural conjunction, when one culture becomes as intimate with
another as to lose its individuality it is called assimilation.
11.
STRUCTURE OF CULTURE
Culture is constituted by interrelated parts or elements. The internal organization of
culture comprises its structure. The term culture is essentially an abstraction which is derived
from an observation of human behaviour. Human behaviour is organized and ordered in terms
of traits and patterns. Similarly every culture possesses a unifying principle, a philosophy of
life, which permeates every aspect patterns, traits, symbols and ethos.
12.
MAJOR COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
A culture constitutes a structural unity, in that its various elements or constituent
parts are mutually interrelated and interdependent. However, it is possible, for the purpose of
analysis and understanding to delineate the major components or divisions of culture.
The major components of culture which are universal in nature can be analytically separated
into the following units:
Technology: It refers to the system of tools, implements and artifacts, made and used by
people to meet their basic needs.
Economic Organization: It includes the techniques which are employed by people in
organizing the production and distribution of goods and services.
Social Organization: It refers to the framework of social and interpersonal relations.
Political Organization: It refers to the ways and methods of controlling conflict and deals
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with the maintenance of the social order.
Ideology: It includes a guiding set of beliefs, values and ideals.
Arts: That is the forms which ensure the fulfillment of man’s aesthetic urges.
Language: It is the medium through which all the above operate.
13.
CULTURAL CONDITIONING
Human beings as individuals and as members of group think, feel and behave in
certain ways because they have been brought up under certain conditions in a given society or
community. The culture of people influences their perception and attitudes, their values and
beliefs, their habits and customs. In other words, it is largely our culture which forms our
character and builds our personality. This fact is known as cultural conditioning.
A cultural influences people and make conditioned them to attach a special meaning to
certain objects, things and colours. Certain colour, for example, are regarded as auspicious and
are used during festive occasions, ceremonies and rituals. Red is considered auspicious in
most of the parts of India. Brides are dressed in red in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, U.P. even in
Kashmir and several other regions. Green has a special cultural significance in Maharashtra.
When a girl reaches puberty, the first dress presents to her by parents is green. The bridal
dress is green. A woman wears a green dress during pregnancy. When her son is married, she
receives a green dress as a gift from the bride’s mother. In South India, particularly AP, yellow
is considered auspicious in marriages, house warming ceremonies, and religious functions.
Food habits are influenced by cultural factors. This conditioning manifests itself in strange but
interesting ways. Mushrooms, which are considered a delicacy in the west, are avoided by
many vegetarians in India because it are resembles meat in texture and taste. Similarly, the
Jain vegetarians have an initial aversion to tomatoes because its colour resembles that of
blood.
Purity and Pollution in India- an interesting illustration of the manner in which culture
influences and conditions behaviour is provided by an aspect of the caste system which is
known as ritual purity and pollution. Pollution is supposed to be brought about by birth,
unclean occupation and contact with death and bodily emissions such as blood, excreta, urine,
saliva, nail and hair. Any contact with these things renders a person impure. Pollution is
believed to be transferable by physical contact. A more interesting aspect of ritual defilement
is known as distance pollution, which is particularly prevalent in South India. It is believed
that pollution or impurity can be transmitted by the mere shadow of an untouchable or by his
proximity within a certain distance.
14.
CULTURAL ETHNOCENTRISM
The concept of ethnocentrism was introduced by W. G. Sumner. According to him,
every individual tends to look at other culture in terms of standards of one’s own culture and
this way of looking at culture is called ethnocentrism. It creates in-group solidarity and outgroup hostility. It is scientifically undesirable and unavoidable, for example, Caplow (1964)
studied 55 sets of 6 organizations each, including fraternities-churches, insurance companies
and many others. He founded that members overestimated the prestige of their own
organizations eight times as often as they underestimated. Similarly Levine and Campbell list
the 23 facets of the universal syndrome of ethnocentrism.
15.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Ethnocentrism is the view that one’s way of life, religion and ideals are to be preferred
to others. This is a narrow, but widely held, view, and an antidote to it is provided by the idea
of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism refers to the view that the values, ideals and
behaviour patterns of a people are not to be evaluated and judged in terms of our own values
and ideas but must be understood and appreciated in their cultural context.
The idea of cultural relativism emphasizes the point that we should try to transcend
our own cultural conditioning and make an attempt to understand another culture the way it
is understood by the individuals who participate in it. This requires a measure of imagination,
understanding and breadth of vision. It is only when we set aside our prejudices and
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stereotypes about a given people that we can understand them in a realistic and human
manner.
XENOCENTRISM
The term implies a preference for foreign. It is a belief that one’s own product and
ideas are inferior to foreign one.
CULTURE SHOCK
It describes state of personality disorganization which an individual experiences when
one is suddenly exposed to different culture. Pierre Bourdieu has divided culture into cultural
capital, cultural deprivation, cultural domination, cultural shock and cultural reproduction.
EVOLUTION OF CULTURE
To understand the evolution of culture it is necessary to understand its various main
processes. Its main processes are diffusion, acculturation and integration.
16.
CULTURAL DIFFUSION
Cultural growth results not merely from accumulation but also by the adoption of
novel concepts from other cultures. Accordingly, diffusion applies to the adoption of new ideas
by one individual or society from another individual or society. Almost all the cultures of the
world are adopting innumerable new ideas and things from the modern western culture
though diffusion.
It would have become apparent from the preceding description that the process of
cultural growth is not simple but complex. Many processes function in it. In the process of
such interaction many cultures have become completely extinct and are only mentioned in
history. Great cultures are invariably progressive. This is the secret of their life force. Indian
culture is one such example.
According to MacIver and Page, “cultural diffusion is the most important cause of social
development.” All the great cultures developed as a result of the mutual contacts of various
cultures. The cultures which grew upon the bank of Nile influenced India. Indian thoughts
reached China and they made important contributions of western civilizations. Greek culture
was influenced by the Egyptian culture. Rome was affected by Greek culture. In the same way,
the modern cultures are adopting from one to another. Acquisition by one culture from
another in this manner is called diffusion. Ogburn and Nimkoff have written that the
transference of cultural parts from one sphere or another or from one part of culture to
another is called diffusion. Diffusion of this kind is evinced in most of the objects of the
modern world such as railway, motor car, aeroplane, cinema, tank, telephone, telegraph
television, etc. not only do machines and tools spread from one country to another but the
same is true of thoughts which spread from one country to another. Buddhist thoughts spread
from India to China, Japan, Burma, etc. Communism which originated in Russia has spread
elsewhere. The following factors are influential in the process of diffusion:
(a) Relations and communications,
(b) Need of and desire for new traits,
(c) Competition with old traits and objections to them, and
(d) The respect and recognition of those who bring new traits.
The process of diffusion can take place jointly in various societies as well as within one
society. The rate of diffusion in the twentieth century has vastly increased to the
unprecedented development in the means of transport and communication.
Graebner, Ackerman and Schint, German scholars, have done much towards the
establishment and popularization of the principle of diffusion. Their school is known as the
Kultur historische- schule. According to them, similarity between two cultures cannot be
attributed to diffusion so long as historical evidence influencing their mutual contact is
produced.
17.
ACCULTURATION
Whenever culture traits or culture complexes spread from one culture to another, it is
called diffusion. When the whole system of life in a culture begins to change under the
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influence of any other culture, it is the process of acculturation or contraculturation. Linton,
Redfield, HerskovitsHoizer and Beals have given many examples to define the process of
contraculturation. According to Herskovits, “when a child learns to obey its cultural traditions
in the process of development, it is called acculturation. When there is an exchange of cultural
traits and culture complexes between two cultures, it is Transculturation, but when in place of
one system of life in any culture, another system is established, it is contraculturation.
Assimilation may take place in this, but often it does not happen. What happens is that the
afflicted culture first disintegrates than next, when an improvement in it begins a new, its
individuality is lost and it takes a new form. Such a process can be called contraculturation.”
Scholars, who illustrated this process of contraculturation say that every culture of the world
today possess its unadulterated from, which means that every culture has taken a lot from
other cultures. They also insist that it is not enough to say, as diffusionists do, that different
cultures have taken a lot from one another through diffusion. It is also necessary to say what
and how they took from it.
Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results
through meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels
in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to
culture, customs and social institutions. Noticeable group level effects of acculturation often
include changes in food, clothing and language. At the individual level, differences in the way
individuals acculturate have been shown to be associated not just with changes in daily
behaviour but with numerous measures of psychological and physical wellbeing. As
enculturation is used to describe the process of first-culture learning, acculturation can be
thought of as second-culture learning.
The concept of acculturation has been studied scientifically since 1918. As it has been
approached at different times from the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology,
numerous theories and definitions have emerged to describe elements of the acculturative
process. Despite definitions and evidences that acculturation entails a two-way process of
change, research and theory have primarily focused on the adjustments and adaptations made
by minorities such as immigrants, refugees, and indigenous peoples in response to their
contact with the dominant majority. Contemporary research has primarily focused on
different strategies of acculturation and how variations in acculturation affect and how well
individuals adapt to their society.
Historical Approaches
The earliest recorded thoughts towards acculturation can be found in Sumerian
inscriptions from 2370 BC. These inscriptions laid out rules for commerce and interaction
with foreigners designed to limit acculturation and protect traditional cultural practices. Plato
also said that acculturation should be avoided as he thought it would lead to social disorder.
Accordingly, he proposed that no one should travel abroad until they are at least 40 years of
age, and that travelers should be restricted to the ports of cities to minimize contact with
native citizens. Nevertheless, the history of Western Civilization, and in particular the histories
of Europe are largely defined by patterns of acculturation.
J.W. Powell is credited with coining the word ‘acculturation’ in 1880, defining it as ‘the
psychological changes induced by cross-cultural imitation.’ The first psychological theory of
acculturation was proposed in W.I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki’s (1918) study, ‘The Polish
Peasant in Europe and America’. From studying Polish immigrants in Chicago, they illustrated
three forms of acculturation corresponding to three personality types: Bohemian (adopting
the host culture and abandoning their culture of origin), Philistine (failing to adopt the host
culture but preserving their culture of origin), and Creative-Type (able to adapt to the host
culture while preserving their culture of origin). In 1936, Redfield, Linton, and Herskovits
provided the first widely used definition of acculturation as ‘those phenomenon which result
when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact,
with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups….’ Under
this definition acculturation is to be distinguished from…assimilation, which is at times a
phase of acculturation.
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Conceptual Models of Acculturation
Although numerous models of acculturation exist, the most complete models take into
consideration the changes occurring at the group and individual levels of both interacting
groups. To understand acculturation at the group level, one must first look at the nature of
both cultures before coming into contact with one another. A useful approach is Eric Kramer's
(1988) theory of Dimensional Accrual and Dissociation.
Fourfold Model
Meta-analyses of research on acculturation have shown pronounced disagreement in
the categorization of different strategies of acculturation. However, the majority of these
models have divided the ways in which individuals approach acculturation into four
categories.
The fourfold model categorizes acculturation strategies along two dimensions. The first
dimension concerns the retention or rejection of an individual's minority or native culture (i.e.
‘is it considered to be of value to maintain one's identity and characteristics?’). The second
dimension concerns the adoption or rejection of the dominant group or host culture (i.e. ‘is it
considered to be of value to maintain relationships with the larger society?’) From this, four
acculturation strategies emerge:
1. Assimilation: Assimilation occurs when individuals reject their original culture and
adopt the cultural norms of the dominant or host culture.
2. Separation: Separation occur when individuals reject the dominant or host culture in
favour of preserving their culture of origin. Separation is often facilitated by
immigration to ethnic enclaves.
3. Integration: Integration occur when individuals are able to adopt the cultural norms
of the dominant or host culture while maintaining their culture of origin. Integration
leads to, and is often synonymous with biculturalism.
4. Marginalization: Marginalization occurs when individuals reject both their culture of
origin and the dominant host culture.
Studies suggest that individual’s respective acculturation strategy can differ between
their private and public life spheres. For instance, an individual may reject the values and
norms of the dominant culture in his private life, whereas he might adapt to the dominant
culture in public parts of his life.
18.
OUTCOME OF ACCULTURATION
In situations of continuous contact, cultures have exchanged and blended foods, music,
dances, clothing, tools, and technologies. Cultural exchange can either occur naturally through
extended contact or deliberately though cultural appropriation or cultural imperialism.
 Cultural Appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a
different cultural group. It can include the introduction of forms of dress or personal
adornment, music and art, religion, language, or behaviour. These elements are
typically imported into the existing culture, and may have wildly different meanings or
lack the subtleties of their original cultural context. Because of this, cultural
appropriation is sometimes viewed negatively, and has been called ‘cultural theft.’
 Cultural Imperialism is the practice of promoting the culture or language of one
nation in another, usually occurring in situations in which assimilation is the dominant
strategy of acculturation. Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active, formal
policy or a general attitude regarding cultural superiority.
Language
The transactional nature of acculturation is particularly notable in the evolution of
languages. In some instances, acculturation results in the adoption of another country's
language, which is then modified over time to become a new, distinct language.
Transculturation
Some anthropologists make a semantic distinction between group and individual
levels of acculturation. In these instances, the term ‘Transculturation’ is used to define
individual foreign-origin acculturation, and occurs on a smaller scale with less visible impact.
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Scholars making this distinction use the term ‘acculturation’ only to address large-scale
cultural transactions.
19.
ENCULTURATION
Enculturation is the process by which people learn the requirements of their
surrounding culture and acquire values and behaviours appropriate or necessary in that
culture. As part of this process, the influences that limit, direct, or shape the individual
(whether deliberately or not) include parents, other adults and peers. If successful,
enculturation results in competence in the language, values and rituals of the culture.
Enculturation is related to socialization. In some academic fields, socialization refers to
the deliberate shaping of the individual. In others, the word may cover both deliberate and
informal enculturation.
Enculturation is sometimes referred to as acculturation, a word recently used to more
distinctively refer only to exchanges of cultural features with foreign cultures. Note that this is
a recent development, as acculturation in some literatures has the same meaning as
enculturation
20.
CULTURE AND IDENTITY
Identities are not inherited but fashioned both by the individual and the group through
their relationships with others. For the individual the social roles that he plays impart identity.
Every person in modern society plays multiple roles. For instance within the family he may be
the father, son, brother etc., but for each of the specific roles there are particular
responsibilities and powers.
It is sufficient to enact roles. They also have to be recognized and acknowledged. This
can often be done through the recognition of the particular language that is used among role
players. Students in schools have their own way of referring to their teachers, other students,
and class performances. By creating this language which also serves as a code, they create
their own meaning of words and significances. Similarly, women are also known to create
their own language and through it their own private space beyond the control of man
especially when they congregate at the pond to bathe in rural areas or across washing lines on
rooftops in urban areas.
In a culture there can be many sub-cultures, like that of the elite and working class
youth. Sub-cultures are marked by style, taste and association. Particular sub-cultures are
identifiable by their speech, dress codes, preferences for particular kind of music or the
manner in which they interact with their group members.
Sub-cultural groups can also function as cohesive units which impart an identity to all
group members. Within such groups there can be leaders and followers but group members
are bound by the purpose of the group and work together to achieve their adjectives. For
instance young members of a neighbourhood can form a club to engage themselves in sports
and other constructive activities. Such activities create a positive self-image but also inspire
them to perform better in their activities. The orientation of their identity as a group
undergoes a transformation. The group is able to differentiate itself from other groups and
thereby create its own identity through the acceptance and recognition of the neighbourhood.
21.
CULTURAL REPRODUCTION
Cultural reproduction is the transmission of existing cultural values and norms from
generation to generation. Cultural reproduction refers to the mechanisms by which continuity
of cultural experience is sustained across time. Cultural reproduction often results in social
reproduction, or the process of transferring aspects of society (such as class) from generation
to generation.
Groups of people, notably social classes, act to reproduce the existing social structure
to preserve their advantage. The processes of schooling in modern societies are among the
main mechanisms of cultural reproduction, and do not operate solely through what is taught
in courses of formal instruction.
Reproduction as it is applied to culture is the process by which aspects of culture are
passed on from person to person or from society to society. There are a number of different
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ways in which this has happened. Historically, people have moved from different countries
taking with them certain cultural norms and traditions. For centuries, cultural reproduction
has occurred in a profound way through a hidden agenda. Culture transmits aspects of
behaviour which individuals learn in an informal way while they are out of the home. The
interaction between individuals resulting in the transfer of accepted cultural norms, values
and information is accomplished through a process known as socialization.
Methods of Cultural Reproduction
The method through which cultural reproduction is perpetuated varies from the socializing
agent’s relative location, awareness and intention to reproduce social or cultural norms.
 Enculturation can be described as ‘a partly conscious and partly unconscious learning
experience when the older generation invites, induces, and compels the younger
generation to adopt traditional ways of thinking and behaving’. Although, in many ways
enculturation duplicates the norms and traditions of previous generations. The degree
of similarity between the cultures of each successive generation through enculturation
may vary. This concept could be demonstrated by the tendency of each successive
generation to follow cultural norms. Parents and educators prove to be the most
influential acculturating forces of cultural reproduction.
 Comparatively, diffusion is the dispersion of cultural norms and behaviours between
otherwise unrelated groups or individuals.
22.
EDUCATION AS AN AGENT OF CULTURAL
REPRODUCTION
Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction is concerned with the link between original
class membership and ultimate class membership, and how this link is mediated by the
education system. According to Sullivan (2001), the theory of cultural reproduction entails
three fundamental propositions: 1) Parental cultural capital is inherited by children. 2)
Children’s cultural capital is converted into educational credentials. 3) Educational credentials
are a major mechanism of social reproduction in advanced capitalist societies.
The concept of education as an agent of cultural reproduction is argued to be less
directly explained by the material and a subject taught, but rather more so through what is
known as the hidden curriculum. This refers to the socialization aspect of the education
process. Through this, an adolescent acquires ‘appropriate attitudes and values’ needed to
further succeed within the confines of education. An adolescent’s success or failure within the
formal education system is a function of both their ability to demonstrate both measures of
formal educational qualifications as well as the attainment of the aforementioned qualities
acquired through socialization mechanisms. This nature of education is reproduced
throughout all stages of the system; from primary to secondary. The ability of a student to
progress to each subsequent level requires mastery of the prior. One’s ability to successfully
complete the process of educational attainment strongly correlates to the capacity to realize
adequate pay, occupational prestige, social status, etc. upon workforce participation.
There is no clear consensus as the exact role of education within cultural
reproduction; and further to what degree, if any, this system either encourages or discourages
topics such as social stratification, resource inequality, and discrepancies in access to
opportunities. It is believed, however, that the primary means in which education determines
an individual’s social status, class, values and hierarchy is through the distribution of cultural
capital. This notion of cultural capital accumulation and the degree to which an individual
attains cultural capital, determines the individual’s access to resources and opportunities.
There are, however, several competing ideologies and explanations that have been
significantly discussed.
Education Provides Functional Prerequisites: Known as ‘Parsonian Functionalism’ states
that education’s function is to provide individuals with the necessary values and attitudes for
future work. This forms the assumption that regardless of the trade an individual participates,
he will all need a similar set of social skills for his day to day interactions. From this concept,
the idea of education as an ideological state apparatus emerged. This elaborated on the prior
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by continuing that both family and school work together to reproduce social classes,
occupational hierarchy, value orientation and ideology.
Education Mirrors Capitalism: Education mirrors the capitalistic system, in that it sorts
individuals and assigns them the skills necessary to fulfill their destined occupation. An
individual is provided the appropriate attitude that should be observed within the labour
force. Further it establishes an ‘acceptance to the reproduction of submissive attitude to the
established order’. With this, education’s primary role is believed to be as a method of sorting
individuals rather than equally educating. Those with high levels of accumulated social capital
from parents or other sources are more easily able to excel within the system of education.
Thus, these individuals will continue on a track that places them into specialized and
comparatively highly prestigious occupations. In contrast, those with little social or cultural
capital will maintain low levels throughout the process of education and be placed into
occupations with little demand for cultural capital, significantly less specialized and
prestigious occupation. With this occupational selection, both the individuals will maintain the
cultural norms and social status associated with each outside of their occupations as well.
With any of the concepts, whether considering the intrinsic value of education or the
externally perceived value, each unit of educational attainment requires forgone earnings to
attain. In this process, an individual would have to sacrifice wages in order to gain an
additional unit of education. Outside of forgone monetary earnings, there are also direct
expenses such as tuition, supplies, books, etc. One must consider when acquiring education as
well as less direct psychic costs. With this there is an economic consideration and tradeoff an
individual must consider in their further education aspirations. One who has resources and
the desire to continue education has a significant comparative advantage to an individual who
by comparison does not. This financial aspect of educational acquirement proves as yet
another consideration in the reproductive nature of education.
One who successfully completes the process of educational attainment incurs a
significant comparative advantage over a similar individual who does not. Thus, the degree to
which education reproduces cultural and social norms already present in the underlying
society stands to prove a significant factor in the continued propagation of these established
norms. With this harsh divide between individuals who do and do not complete the process of
formal education, social stratification and inequality between the two groups emerges. This
further confirms cultural norms and reproduces the same system upon each successive
generation.
23.
EDUCATION AND CULTURE
In every society, no matter how simple or complex, there exist standards, norms,
customs, values, beliefs and conventional ways of behaving which shape the behaviour and
preferences of its members. These behaviours may differ from society to society and from era
to era but they represent a process through which the social heritage or the culture is passed
on from one generation to another generation.
Education is the sum total of one’s learning experiences during the life and not just
confused to organized formal learning experiences in schools but all learning experiences.
Education as a cultural instrument performs three functions viz. conservation, transmission
and renewal of culture.
The National Policy of Education (1986) has highlighted the functions of education. It
emphasized that education must bring about a fine synthesis between change-oriented
technologies and the continuity of the country’s cultural traditions. The curriculum and
process of education must be enriched by cultural content in as many manifestations as
possible. Education has an acculturating role so as to refine the sensitivities and perceptions of
individuals for the development of faith in scientific temper, socialism, secularism and
democracy.
Conservative and Transmitive Role
In relation to culture, education indeed is a process of instilling in young people the
traditionally inherited and contemporarily renewed values and beliefs which lounge at the
heart of cultures. This role of education aims at cultural conservation. Sociologists commonly
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conceive the function of education as the transmission of culture from generation to another.
In modern societies, the school is the major institution devised by the adult generation for
maintaining and perpetuating culture. Besides imparting the tools necessary for survival, it
also transmits knowledge and values to future generations. The values, beliefs and norms of a
society are maintained and passed to the next generation not merely by teaching about them
but also by re-orienting the entire process of education in tune with the essential elements of
culture.
Creative Role
Education has the strongest function to create new cultural traits through inventions
and discoveries. Through education new things come to us and the beneficial ones are adapted
and conserved and transmitted to the upcoming generation. Education also contributes
significantly to the renewal of culture bringing about change in the beliefs and values of
society and in the norms of behaviour of individuals and groups in accordance with the
changing times under the impact of modernization. In the post-independence period, attitudes
towards women and caste system have undergone a visible change. The beliefs in old customs
and rituals have progressively lost their strength intensity.
The relationship between culture and education is evident from the statement that
culture is the behaviour of the individual or group in the society and education modifies that
behaviour according to desired goals and directions. Education is a part of culture which not
only preserves and transmits culture but also modifies its traits. Education is a process by
which society through its institutions deliberately transmits its cultural heritage form one
generation to another. It works as an instrument for cultural change.
Culture based Education
Culture determines the contents of education. It gives direction to individual’s
learning. Whatever is taught in the school or whatever is learnt in the school, whether
consciously or unconsciously is derived from the total culture. The curriculum framework for
quality teacher education brought out by NCTE in 1998 and the national curriculum
framework for the school education brought out by NCERT in 2000, have highlighted the
importance of culture specific pedagogies for enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of
curriculum transaction, which shall certainly enhance the quality of student’s learning.
It is not enough to include cultural contents in the school curriculum. It is also
necessary to re-orient the process of curriculum transaction in the light of socio-cultural
context of children. Teachers should make use of various manifestations of local culture to
make their teaching interesting and relevant. Folk tales, songs, music, dance, local art and
craft, occupations of the local people etc. may be used as teaching aids for teaching different
subjects. The local language should also be given due importance in teaching. In short, the
local cultural resource should be fully utilized to contextualize not only the content but also
the process of education. This will enhance comprehensibility of school knowledge for the
students. The impact of culture on education can be seen from the following points.
Influence of Culture on Aims of Education
The meaning and aims of education are determined by the cultural ideas, values and
patterns of a society. In other wards as is the culture of a society so shall be its aims of
education.
Influence of Culture on Curriculum
Culture determines the curriculum. The needs of the society are realized through
curriculum. For instance, we are teaching science, kashmiri and mathematics right from the
class I. It determines that it is the demand of modern culture.
Influence of Culture on Discipline
Cultural values also influence the concepts of discipline. The present cultural patterns
of thinking and living are directly linked to our concept of discipline. In ancient and middle
ages societies where authoritarian, the concept of discipline was expressionistic. But in
modern times when democratic values of life are being accepted all over the world, the
concept of discipline has come to mean impressionistic or emancipatory or self-discipline.
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Influence of Culture on Pedagogy
Culture and methods of teaching are intimately connected. That is why the changing
cultural patterns of a society exert powerful influence upon the methods of teaching also. In
ancient times, education was teacher centered and teachers were trying to force students to
remain in their minds and disregarded the interests and needs of their students. But in
modern times education has become child centered. Thus, the interests, inclinations, attitudes,
aptitudes and needs and aspirations of students are taken into full consideration before
exposing them to specific educational experiences, activities and programmes.
Influence of Culture on Text Books
Text books are written according to cultural values. It may be born in the mind that
only those text books are welcomed if they foster and promote cultural ideals and values. On
the contrary, they should be discarded if they militate against the cultural ideals and values of
a particular society.
Influence of Culture on Teacher
Each individual teacher is imbued with the cultural ideals and values of the society of
which he happens to be an integral member. Only such teacher achieves his mission
successfully who is able to infuse higher ideals and morals in children. It may be noted here
that the idealism and higher ideals of teacher are compromised with the cultural ideals and
values of the society.
Influence of Culture on School
According to the ideology of sociology, a school is a miniature society. The total
activities and programmes of the school are organized according to the cultural ideals and
values of the society. Hence, school is the center of promoting, moulding, refining and
developing the cultural patterns of the society which establishes that school for its own good
and welfare.
Influence of Culture on Co-curricular Activities
Culture has its great impact on co-curricular activities. The activities cannot by any
means be outside the culture of the student. These activities are a part of the curriculum.
Apart from the above functions the relationship of culture with education can be
understood from the following:
Education is crucial to understand cultural lag in the society. Ogburn in his book,
‘Social Change’ argues, “Industry and education are two variables, but if the change in industry
comes first and the adjustment through education follows, industry may be referred as the
independent variable and education as the dependent variable. The teacher who was central
in the teaching learning process is no more so, as one can get education without a teacher as
well. The rise of virtual classroom or teacher less learning or self-learning is basically a result
of technological innovations. This also is accompanied by an entire gamut of changes of
relations in the teaching learning system. Teaching is no more personal, it can be impersonal
as well because our cultural system has adopted these qualities through which it became
impersonal.”
Thus, the human progress is directed by the culture of the society and man creates
deals and values, through the culture of society. Society owes to culture the all-round
development of an individual. Through the path of culture the society acquires all the inherent
qualities from one generation to another and this is carried out by education. The child
acquires social inheritance from his family and from society which has a great role to play in
his development. In any educational institution it is prime duty of the teacher to infuse culture
in the child personality. Thus, culture is an innate process which we must acquire through our
life. The role of education is considered important in the sense that it should make man able to
adjust themselves in his social environment of life. In other words education and culture
outlines its programmes according to the needs of the society. It is culture which offers
contents and directions to the individual’s learning, attitude, habits, and other processes
which are largely achieved through education.
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24.
REFERENCES:
1. Apple, M.W. (1982). Cultural and Economics Reproduction in Education,
London: Rutledge & Kegan Paul.
2. Ballantine, Jeanne (1993). The Sociology of Education: A systematic Analysis,
Englewood Cliff. New Jersy: Prentice Hall.
3. Bilton, Tony, et at. (1987). Introductory Sociology, London: MacMillan.
4. Durkheim, E. (1956). Education and Sociology, New York: The Free Press.
5. Giddens, Anthonu. (1990). Sociology, Cambridge: Polity Press.
6. Gross, Neal. (1960). ‘The Sociology of Education’, in Morton, R. (Ed.) Sociology
Today: Problems and Prospects, USA: Basic Books.
7. Mathur, S.S. (9th Ed.) (1992). A Sociological Approach to Indian Education,
Agra: Vinod Pustak Mandir.
8. Shankar Rao (2004) Sociology of Indian Society, New Delhi: S. Chand &
Company.
9. Shankar Rao (2006) Principles of Sociology with an Introduction to Social
Thought, New Delhi: S. Chand & Company.
10. Shankar U. (1991). Sociology of Education for Modern India, New Delhi: Enkay
Publishers Private Limited.
11. Bruner, Jerome. (1996). The Culture of Education, London: Harvard University
Press.
12. Butts, Robert F. (1947). A Cultural History of Education: Reassessing our
educational Traditions, 1st Ed., New York and London: McGraw Hill Book Co.
Inc.
13. Aikara, J. (1994). Sociology of Education, New Delhi: Indian Council of Social
Sciences Research.
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E 105-GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO
GUIDANCE
PREPARED BY: DR. SHAZIA SIRAJ
ZARGAR
Course Objectives:
 To enable the students understand the basic fundamentals of
Guidance and Counselling.
 To enable the students to understand the importance of making
right choice in life, education and vocation.
 To enable the students to describe the importance of working
with a group, for a group and in a group.
 To enable the students to understand the needs of the
individual correctly.
 To be able to understand various guidance services.
 To enable the students to understand the process of counselling.
 To enable the students to develop an understanding regarding
the career development.
INTRODUCTION
Guidance is as old as civilisation. In the primitive society, elders in the family
offered guidance to the young and to persons in distress. Even today, in India,
guidance, whether in educational, vocational or personal matters, is sought from
family elders. Guidance - unorganised and informal - in all places and at all levels has
been a vital aspect of the educational process. With the passage of time, revolutionary
changes have taken place in the field of agriculture, industry, business and medicine
etc. These changes in all walks of life coupled with extraordinary growth in our
population has made the social structure very complex. Head of the family or leader of
the community with a limited knowledge of the changed conditions is hardly
competent in providing guidance and counselling to the youth of today. Hence, there
is a need for specialised guidance services.
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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF GUIDANCE
It is true that a very minor percentage of our total population is capable of
handling its problems independently without the cooperation and guidance of others.
We find that majority of the people do not have either confidence or insight to solve
their problems. There have always been people in the past who need occasional help
from older or more experienced associates in meeting with their problems of daily life
in the society. Traditionally, in our Indian society, the leader of the family or the local
community was supposed to provide the necessary guidance and advice whenever any
member of the family or the community needed it. Needless to mention, too often
informal advice given without a clear understanding of the problem involved was
harmful and misleading to the individual. With the passage of time, revolutionary and
evolutionary changes have taken place in all walks of life. The variety of jobs, high
aspirations of the people and vocational specialisation have made the work of
guidance very difficult. The head of the family or the leader of local community with
the limited knowledge of changed conditions such as globalisation, liberalisation and
consumerism is not capable of providing guidance to the youth of today.
In the last two decades, guidance movement has spread like a wild-fire
through out the world and generated a great amount of enthusiasm and zeal among
parents, teachers and social workers who have devoted time to explore its feasibility
and the utility for general population including school going adolescents. All are
convinced that proper provision of guidance services should be made for children at
different age levels for the harmonious development of their personalities in the larger
interest of the society and the individual.
Meaning of Guidance
What does guidance precisely mean? Let us first see what it does not mean.
Lester. D. Crow and Alice Crow (1962) in “An Introduction to Guidance”, have aptly
stated that “Guidance is not giving directions. It is not the imposition of one person’s
point of view upon another person. It is not making decisions for an individual, which
he should make for himself. It is not carrying the burdens of another life”. If guidance
is not all these, then what is it really? To quote them again:
“Guidance is an assistance made available by personally qualified and
adequately trained men or women to an individual of any age to help them
manage their own life activities, develop their own points of view, make their
own decisions, and carry out their own burden”.
Ordinary Meaning
Ordinary meaning of guidance is help, assistance, and suggestions for progress
and showing the way. In that sense guidance is a life long process. Man needs
guidance throughout his life. He needs it even from his infancy. When a child is born,
the world for him is big, buzzing, blooming confusion and he knows nothing. He
learns everything from the society. From the mother, he learns how to stand on his
feet, from the father, he learns to walk and from the teacher, he learns to seek
knowledge and education, all learning takes place through guidance. The society
guides the individual to learn, to adjust oneself to the physical and social
environment. To sum up we may say that guidance is a personal help rendered by the
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society to the individual so as to enable him to adjust to the physical and social
environment and to solve the problems of life.
Specific Meaning
Guidance in India, is comparatively a new field within the larger and more
inclusive field of education and is used as a technical term as a specific meaning.
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It covers the whole spectrum of education, which starts from the birth of the child and
continues till his death. This is a wide meaning of the term, which includes all types of
education such as formal, non-formal, informal and vocational etc., which aims to
adjust the individual in his environment in an effective way. There are usually three
connotations attached to the word guidance:
1. Guidance as a Specialised Service whose primary concern is with the
individual and to help them to solve their problems and take appropriate
decisions in their choice-points;
2. Guidance as a General Service and is considered to be synonymous with
education and educational processes; and
3. Guidance as a Sub-Process of education in which developmental needs
of the learners are considered the basic points.
Now let us look at some selected definitions of the term guidance in a bid to
understand its conceptual and operational form:
The term guidance represents the concept that is neither simple nor easily
comprehensible due to the complexity of the human nature, the individual differences
and personal-social problems associated with changing environmental conditions and
cultural traditions.
Shirley Hamrin (1947) defined guidance as: “Helping John to see
through himself in order that he may see himself through, is a simple and
practical but challenging concept of guidance.
Downing (1964) points out towards a common problem in defining
guidance that is one of keeping the definition short and sufficiently broad to be
informative. He has attempted it by giving definition of guidance in
operational terms in two parts:
(i) Guidance is an organised set of specialised services established as an
integral part of the school environment designed to promote the development of
the students and assist them toward a realisation of sound, wholesome
adjustment and maximum accomplishments commensurate with their
personalities.
(ii) Guidance is a point of view that includes a positive attitude towards
children and realisation that it is the supplement, strengthen and make more
meaningful all other phases of a youngster’s education.
Ruth Strang (1937) explains that guidance is a process of helping every
individual through his own efforts to discover and develop his potentialities for his
personal happiness and social usefulness.
Mathewson (1962) : defines guidance as the systematic professional process
of helping the individual through education and interpretative procedures to gain a
better understanding of his own characteristics and potentialities and to relate himself
more satisfactorily to social requirements and opportunities in accord with social and
moral values.
Arthur, J. Jones (1963): thinks that guidance is the help given by one person
to another in making choices and adjustments and in solving problems.
Traxler (1957): considers guidance as a help which enables each individual to
understand his abilities and interests, to develop them as well as possible and to relate
the life-goals, and finally to reach a state of complete and mature self- guidance as a
desirable member of the social order.
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Odebunmi (1992) saw guidance as encompassing the full range of
personalized assistance given to the individual seeking to expand his/herself
understanding and his/her understanding of others.
Egbochuku (2008) opined that Guidance would enable the individuals to
answer such questions as: Who am I? What am I capable of doing? How can I fit into
my society? How can I maximally use the opportunities within my environment to
achieve my life goals?
Shartzer and Stone (1976) defined guidance to mean “to direct, pilot or
guide. Guidance is a more directive or prescriptive form of help.
Ruth Strong “Guidance is a process through which an individual or groups of
individuals are helped to make necessary adjustment to the environment-inside or
outside the school”
Akinade (1987) remarked that some specialists assert that guidance is a broad
term used to cover a number of specialist services available in schools. Such services
include the information service, testing service, placement service, follow-up service
and counseling service. But looking at the modern day global world, the provision of
specialist services are no more limited to the school, it now includes the community in
general.
B.L. Shepherd stated that (1) the immediate objective in guidance is to help
each pupil meet and solve his problems as they arise; and (2) the ultimate objective of
all guidance is self-guidance.
According to the Secondary Education Commission (1964-66):
“Guidance involves the difficult art of helping boys and girls to plan their own
future wisely in the full light of all the factors that can be mastered about
themselves and about the world in which they are to live and work. “If we
analyse the above definitions of guidance, we will find the following elements
in it:
1. Guidance programme is organised; it has a structure, system
and personnel.
2. It is an integral part of the school system.
3. It consists of specialised series of testing, counselling, educational
and vocational information, placement and follow-up scheme.
4. Its major aim is the promotion of student development.
5. It helps children to develop and promote their ability to deal with
their own problems.
6. It provides for the identification and development of talents
and potentialities.
7. The intangible elements of guidance are recognised as a point of
view or as an attitude.
From the above, guidance can be summarily defined as cognitive educational
services (within or outside the school system) that help people understand themselves,
provided the client reveals accurate, reliable and valid information about himself and
his environment.
NATURE OF GUIDANCE
By now, you have understood that guidance is a helping service. It is by its
very nature a self oriented, problem solving and multifaceted activity. It presupposes
two-fold understanding. The first is the understanding of one’s own abilities,
aptitudes, interests, motives, behaviour-patterns, skills and achievements up-to-date
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and social, cultural, economic background. Secondly, it is the understanding of the
real nature of one’s environment and of the educational and vocational opportunities
offered by that environment, along with their differential requirements of abilities and
attainments. Guidance may be described as a process of relating these two types of
understanding so that they become imbued with a new meaning in the life of the
individual. Mohein has very lucidly put the nature of guidance in these words:
“Guidance seeks to create within the child the need and power to
explore and understand himself in order to prepare a balance-sheet of his
assets and liabilities so that he is able to plan out his future growth and
activities in a manner that offers maximum likelihood of success and satisfaction”.
NEED FOR GUIDANCE
The need for guidance had existed at all times. Moreover, the need of
guidance is universal. It is as old as man himself. It is based upon the fact that
all human beings need help in one way or other way. “There is hardly any individual
who does not need help”. Jones has rightly said, “Every one needs assistance at
sometime in his life. Some will need constantly and throughout their entire
life,
while others need it only at rare intervals at times of great crisis. There always have
been and will continue to be people with an occasional need for the help of the older
or more experienced associates in meeting problem situation.” But there is a greater
need for guidance services now than ever before due to the rapid advancement in
technology, emerging of new world order, social change, globalisation, liberalisation,
the need for outstanding leadership, a shift in standards of morality and integrity,
people’s high aspirations etc. all contribute to the need for guidance programme in the
schools. We shall discuss the need for guidance in India under four heads:
Educational Needs
1.
Guidance is needed from educational point of view because of the following reasons:
i.
Increase in the range of individual differences among school going children
Before independence, boys and girls in our country came to school only from
the more privileged section of the society. The admission in the schools was selective.
But after independence due to realization of Constitutional Directive of providing free
and compulsory education up to 14 years of age. Education for all and the drive for
mass education, we find our schools are flooded with children from every section of
society. The classes are over-crowded and there is a tremendous increase in the
number of schools too. The result is that we find much wider range of individual
differences in the abilities, aspirations and achievement of the pupils. Understanding
of the differential needs and abilities of the children is essential for modifying the
school programme for the best possible unfoldment of the student’s potentialities.
This is possible only through the introduction of guidance services in our school
programmes.
ii.
Guidance as an Instrument for the Qualitative Improvement of
Education
There has been a rapid expansion of educational facilities to cater to the needs
of increasing number of children in recent years. This has resulted to some extent in
the fall of educational standards. Consequently, there is a great need of providing
guidance services in the school for the qualitative improvement of education.
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Knowledge Explosion or the increase in the types of courses offered in the schools.
iii.
The domain of knowledge is like the number of wishes. The increased
knowledge is creeping into the course contents of our textbooks. It is not possible for
every student to learn all that is available in the field of knowledge. Single track
education for all is out-moded concept. At the secondary stage, the courses of studies
have been diversified to include several optional groups. Therefore, a special type of
service is badly needed in our schools which will assist the individual pupil in the
choice of course suiting to his needs and abilities that will help the school authorities
in the proper allocation of the diversified courses to the pupils of the school.
Expanding Educational Objectives
iv.
Everyone talks today about the all round development of the child through
education. We want a type of education that can provide for the development of the
whole child. It is now commonly accepted that education should also lead to the
promotion of the emotional, social and civic life of the student. Problems of social
adjustment and personality orientation require the services of a competent counsellor
and availability of appropriate guidance services.
Solution of Educational Problems
v.
We are facing various types of educational problems in the schools such as
universal and compulsory education, increased enrolment, high percentage of failures
and dropout, wastage and stagnation etc. These problems require the need of proper
guidance services in the school. Special guidance services are also required for the
gifted, backward, handicapped and delinquent children.
Solving Discipline problems
vi.
Problem of discipline is becoming more and more acute in the educational
institutions. Even at higher stage of education it has taken a serious turn. Student
strikes and agitation have become a common scene of the day. Problems of discipline
can be solved with the help of guidance programme.
Vii
Optimum Achievement of the Students
Most of the students secure third division in the examinations due to the fact
that they have not developed the proper study habits and learning styles. The reason for
the poor achievement in the schools is because students do not make use of educational
facilities available in the school. Therefore, there is a great need to develop study habits
among the students. Proper guidance services can help in this direction.
2.
Vocational Needs
In our country natural resources are not being properly utilized because of lack of
guidance services. The following are the vocational needs for introducing guidance
programme in the schools:
i)
Vocationalisation of Education and Guidance
Improvement of vocational efficiency is one of the aims of education. Secondary
Education Commission has emphasized the need of introduction of crafts in addition to
the diversification of the courses at secondary stage so that a large number of students
may take up agriculture, technical, commercial or other practical courses to enable them
to go for vocational pursuits. All this calls for proper guidance services in the school.
ii) Guidance as an Instrument of National Development
Guidance by helping, identifying and developing human potential which is the
richest source of a nation can help to reduce the wastage of educational facilities and
abilities, which is so prevalent in our country. Thus there is a need to establish a close link
between education and the manpower needs
of the country. The sound guidance
11
programme can help to achieve this objective in a systematic way.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
iii) Expanding Complexity of the World of Work
There has been a tremendous increase in the variety of jobs due to the
development of industrialization and mechanization in every aspect of life. Thus there is a
problem of choice. It is highly important to acquaint the secondary school students with
this variety of jobs and with their different requirements. This is possible only by
providing organized guidance services in the school system of our country.
Iv Increasing Need for Man-power Planning and Utilization
For the planned development of a nation like ours, conservation of human
resources and manpower planning is very important. A careful balance has to be struck
between the manpower needs and the various educational and training programmes. To
meet the rapidly rising demands of various types of personnel for the various
developmental projects, the younger generation of the country will have to be
systematically guided into courses of training which will equip them for urgent national
needs
v Occupational Awareness
A well-organized guidance programme is essential for creating occupational
awareness among the pupils of the country. The students must be made aware of the
various types of jobs available in the employment market so that they may be able to opt
those courses during the secondary stage. There fore, assistance has to be given for
making a right choice of the courses at the secondary stage.
vi) Changes in the Conditions of Industry and Labour
Fast changes are taking place, today in the conditions of industry and labour.
Specialization has become the word of the present age. Moreover, professions have
multiplied in numbers that it has become difficult for a common man to make a right
choice out of them. Hence it has become essential to get help of guidance services in the
school.
vii) Changed Economic Pattern of the Country
Our country is in the era of economic planning. We require scientists,
Industrialists, Software Engineers, Bankers etc., to meet the growing demands of the
progressive country. The craze for white-collared jobs must come to an end. If proper
guidance programme is not introduced at the secondary stage in the choice of studies and
various vocations, the nation will remain poor and our youth will continue to be frustrated
and disgusted.
3. Personal/Psychological Needs
Today our youth is facing various types of personal problems at home and in the
school. Psychologically no two individuals are alike. They differ in various aspects on
account of the following three kinds of differences:
– Different stages of development
– Differences among persons
– Differences in opportunities made available to various persons.
It shows that all persons can not be fit for the same profession. Hence guidance
12
programme is needed in the school system.
The following are the personal and
psychological reasons for the need of guidance:
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Guidance is the Basic Need of Man
i)
Psychologically, no person on this earth is totally independent. The individual
needs help of one kind or the other from fellow beings to solve their problems to lead a
happy life.
Educational and Social Aspirations
ii)
In the present age of competition the aspirations of the parents are very high.
They want their wards to excel in all walks of life. They provide all types of facilities
so that the children can be able to get good jobs. To meet the high aspirations of the
parents, a well-organized guidance programme is needed to make them aware of the
potentialities of their children so that they take up right decision at the right time.
From the Point of View of the Developmental Needs
iii)
The individual passes from different stages of development in the life such as
infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. One needs different types of help to
adjust with every stage. The adolescent period faces many types of developmental
problems. At this stage the proper guidance is to be provided to the student to make
right choice of his future.
iv)
Psychological Problems
Many students face emotional problems. These problems arise due to
frustrations, conflicts and tensions and other stresses and strains. It is essential to
provide guidance to the youth to solve their personal problems.
v)
Satisfactory Adjustment
Guidance is needed to help the pupils in making satisfactory psychological
adjustment with the environment. Lack of adjustment adversely affects their physical
and mental health.
vi)
Proper Development of Personality
The all round development of personality is the aim of education, a well
organized guidance programme is essential for the total development of personality.
4. Social Needs
Following points highlight the Social Needs of Guidance:–
i)
Complex Nature of Society
Industrialization is the slogan of the day. Our country is heading towards
industrialization, urbanization and modernization. Changed conditions of living and a
highly complex society with its demands have put the individual in constant
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
social and emotional tension. As such, it is highly desirable that school should provide
some special service that can look after the emotional and social needs of school
going children.
ii)
Changed Family Contexts
The joint family system is disappearing rapidly and homes are getting
disintegrated. The changed family pattern has given rise to the various type of
personal problems. The proper guidance programme in the school is required to solve
the personal problems of the children.
iii)
Explosion of Population & Expansion in Human Resources
Our population has been increasing rapidly. This calls for intensive and
extensive guidance in the technique of planning.
iv)
Political Change and Extension of Democracy
There is a revolution of democratization of political system throughout the
world. The education has been made child-centered. The provision of professions and
promotions has also been made equal for all human beings. Hence all people need the
help of guidance service for the right choice of education and occupation.
Change in the Concept of Education
The concept of education has been changed. The students of today need
guidance at every step of education since the education is to be provided according to
their interests, aptitudes and capabilities.
vi)
Proper utilization of Leisure Time
Universal leisure is the outcome of the technological advancement of modern
world. Guidance is needed to assist the individual to make the right use of leisure time
that is at his disposal.
vii)
Lack of Guidance at Home
In the past, home was an important agency of education that provided
sufficient training in the family occupation and the children adopted the same
profession. But now this is not possible due to specialization and different type of
occupations available in thejob market. There are varieties of jobs and all the people
are free to choose the profession they like. Thus, there is a great need of occupational
information services to be provided in the school. From the above
“discussion we can conclude that complex social, economic, political and educational
system has made the guidance and counselling programme a necessity.
SCOPE OF GUIDANCE IN INDIA
The scope of guidance is all pervading. Its scope is very vast in the light of
modernization and industrialisation and is ever increasing. As the life is getting
complex day by day, the problems for which expert help is needed are rapidly
increasing. The scope of guidance is extending horizontally to much of the social
context, to matters of prestige in occupations, to the broad field of social trends and
14
economic development.
Crow and Crow have rightly quoted, “As now interpreted, guidance touches
every aspect of an individual’s personality-physical, mental, emotional and social. It is
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
concerned with all aspects of an individual’s attitudes and behaviour patterns. It seeks
to help the individual to integrate all of his activities in terms of his basic potentialities
and environmental opportunities.”
Kothari Commission has stressed the need of guidance services in the schools
regarding scope of guidance. Commission was of the view. “Guidance services have a
much wider scope and function than merely that of assisting students in making
educational and vocational choices. The aims of guidance are both adjustive and
developmental: it helps the student in making the best possible adjustments to the
situations in the educational institutions and in the home. Guidance, therefore, should
be regarded as an integral part of education.”
The scope of guidance has been increasing with the advancement of science
and technology, embracing all spheres of life and providing facilities for it. Therefore,
it will be difficult to put a fence around it. While discussing the scope of guidance we
may think of some specific or specialised areas of guidance. Even though the
guidance programme is addressed to the whole individuals treated as an integral unit.
It is possible to classify an individual’s problems broadly into educational, vocational
and personal.
a(1) Educational Guidance
It is a process concerned with bringing about a favourable setting for the
individual’s education and includes the assistance in the choice of subjects, use of
libraries, laboratories, workshops, development of effective study habits, evaluation
techniques and adjustment of school life with other activities.
Vocational Guidance
(2)
It is the assistance rendered in meeting the problems:
(i) relating to the choice of vocation (ii) preparing for it (iii) entering the
job, and (iv) achieving adjustment to it.
It also aims-.at helping individuals in the following specific areas:
(a) making individuals familiar with the world of work and with its
diverse requirements and,
(b) to place at the disposal of the individual all possible aids in making
correct appraisal of his strength and weaknesses in relation to the job
requirements offered by his environment.
(3) Personal Guidance
Personal guidance deals with the problems of personal adjustment in
different spheres of life. Mainly it works for the individuals adjustment to his social
and emotional problems. Jones has put the following aims of personal guidance:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
To assist the individual gradually to develop his life goals that are
socially desirable and individually satisfying.
To help him to plan his life so that these goals may be attained.
To help him grow consistently in ability to adjust himself creatively
to his developing life goals.
To assist the individual to grow consistently in ability to live with
others so effectively that he may promote their development and his
own worthy
purposes.
(v)
To help him grow in self-directive
ability
15
Thus the goal of personal guidance is self-directive and self realisation.
This three-fold division of guidance illustrating its scope should not be
taken to form watertight compartments, but it is more a matter of practical
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
convenience for making the concept clearer. There is no real difference among the
problems to which the different types of guidance services are addressed.
Mathewson while discussing the focus and scope of guidance programme
has very aptly stated that the focus of guidance is improving the capability of the
individuals to understand and deal with self-situational relations in the light of
social and moral values. The scope of guidance operation in school is to deal with:
– personal and social relations of the individual in school
– relation of the individual to the school curriculum, and
relation of the individual to the educational and vocational requirements and
opportunities.
AIMS OF GUIDANCE
The aims of guidance are the same as those of education in a democratic
society like ours. Just like education, guidance services are also based on the principle
that the individual is of crucial importance in an educational institution. The aims of
guidance lend emphasis and strength to the educational programme and make it more
dynamic, Specifically the aims of guidance may be laid as follows from the
individuals point of view :
1. To help the individual, by his own efforts as far as possible to realise his
potentialities and to make his maximum contribution to the society.
2. To help the individual to meet and solve his own problems and make
proper choice and adjustment.
3. To help the individual to lay a permanent foundation for sound and
mature adjustment.
4. To help the individual to live a well-balanced life in all aspectsphysical, mental, emotional and social.
From the point of view of the institution the aims of guidance can be stated as
follows:
(i) The guidance programme should encourage and stimulate teachers
towards better teaching.
(ii) The programme should aim at providing assistance to teachers in
their efforts to understand their students.
(iii) It should provide teachers with systematic technical assistance and
in- service training activities.
(iv) It should contribute to the mutual adjustment of children and school.
(v) It should provide for referral of students by teachers.
The Kothari Education Commission (1964-66) has given the following aims of
guidance at the secondary school stage :
(a) to help the adolescent pupils to know and develop their abilities and
interests.
(b) To help pupils to understand their strengths and limitations and to do
scholastic work at the level of their abilities.
(c) To help pupils to make realistic educational and vocational choices.
(d) To provide information of educational opportunities.
(e) To help the pupils in personal and social adjustment.
(f) To help the school to understand their student.
Aims of Educational Guidance
16
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Crow and Crow have given the following aims of educational guidance at the
high school level:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
select the curriculum that best fits his abilities, interests and
future needs.
Develop work and study habits that enable him to achieve
satisfactory success in his studies.
Gain some experiences in learning areas outside the particular
field of his special interests and talents.
Understand the purpose and the function of the school in relation
to his needs.
Discover all that his school has to offer and plan a programme of
studies accordingly.
Learn about the purpose and function of the school that he may
wish to attend later.
Select try out courses in order to gain insight into learning areas
that still lie ahead.
Participate in out-of-class activities in which he can develop
potential leadership qualities.\
Appraise his fitness for continued study in a college or other
school or in a particular vocation. him to understand his
relationship with workers in his own and related occupation and
to society as a whole.
To enable the students to secure reliable information about the
danger of alluring shortcut to fortune through short training
courses and selling propositions of such unscientific methods.
Aims of Personal Guidance
The nature and purpose of personal guidance will be clearly understood when
we take into consideration the different stages of child education.
Aims of Personal Guidance at Elementary Stage
Personal guidance at the elementary stage can be described keeping in view
the basic needs of children. The childhood period is the period of growth and
development. The basic foundations of physical, intellectual, emotional, social and
other types of personality development are laid at this stage. The following are the
aims of personal guidance at this stage:
1. To help the children to form desirable attitudes towards his self,
parents teachers, class fellows and others. Sympathy and affection should be
used for achieving this end.
2. To help the pupils to build a good physique. There should be a regular
medical check-up.
3. To help in making emotional adjustments.
4. To help in the development of self discipline.
Aims of Personal Guidance at Secondary Stage
The nature of personal guidance at the secondary stage can be understood
keeping in mind the basic needs and interests of secondary school students. This
is the most critical stage of individual’s development. It is the stage of stress and
strain, storm and strife, heightened
17 emotionality and hyper-suggestibility,
anxieties and worries, conflicts and frustrations. Purposes of personal guidance at
this stage are:
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
To help the students to solve the problems concerning
physical health.
To help the pupils to solve problems concerning sex,
emotionality and mental health.
To help the adolescents in making family adjustments.
To help the school children in making social adjustment
including adjustment with the school.
To organise wholesome recreational activities in the school.
To provide the opportunity for community service.
Aims of Personal Guidance at College and University Stage
Personal guidance at the college and university level is a continuation of
the personal guidance at the secondary stage. But, its scope is widened with a
view to develop in young adults a sense of social service, social responsibility,
patriotism and tolerance. The students at this stage need personal guidance to
enable them have a satisfactory personal and social adjustment in their new
environment. The following are the aims of personal guidance at this stage :
(a) To help the pupils in solving all types of emotional problems, sex
problems and other personal problems.
(b) To help the pupils in making adjustments with the new environment i.e.
with the changing environment, college environment and environment of
the society at large.
(c) To help the students in developing healthy ideas and building a new
philosophy of life.
(d) To help the students in participating in social activities and community
services.
(e) To help the students in their ethical and moral development and inculcate
right type of values.
(f) To enable the pupils to have mutual respect and regard for people belonging
to different faiths.
Principles of Guidance
Guidance is based upon the following principles.
1. Holistic development of individual:
Guidance needs to be provided in the context of total development of
personality.
2. Recognition of individual differences and dignity:
Each individual is different from every other individual. Each individual is the
combination of characteristics which provides uniqueness to each person.
Similarly human beings have an immense potential. The dignity of the individual
is supreme.
3. Acceptance of individual needs: Guidance is based upon individual
needs
i.e. freedom, respect, dignity.
4. The individual needs a continuous guidance process from early childhood
throughout adulthood.
18
5. Needed for using skills:
Guidance involves using skills to communicate love, regard, respect for
others.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
6. Developing insight in individual:
It is developing the insights of an individual
Types of Guidance:
Individual
guidance:
Individual guidance is tailored to an individual. It is advice, strategy or
planning designed for a singular person or thing and their unique situation. This is in
contrast to general guidance which is frequently based on demographic information
such as age or income or meant for the general population. The most common
reference to individual guidance is in reference to children or students. This is ideally
the role of guidance, educational or career counselors. Individual guidance can be
used to refer to any advice, usually professional advice, given to a person based on
their unique circumstances. This could include legal services, career counseling,
financial planning, medical or psychological advice or a number of other areas where
a trained professional is looked to for direction in a given area.
Group Guidance:
Group refers to collection of people, interaction between individuals,
development of shared perceptions, the development of affective ties and the
development of interdependence of roles. For example many students and
teacher/teachers at one school may gather together to form a group. Group guidance
encompasses those activities of guidance which are carried on in a group situation to
assist its members to have experiences desirable or even necessary for making appropriate decisions in the prevailing contexts. In a more specific term, it is guiding
the individual in a group situation. Group could be of any type, but for guidance
purposes a group should have a common goal. Just collection of individual may not
be called a group for organizing guidance activities. Selection of group 14 members
will have to depend on sharing a common problem, volunteering to be members and
willingness to group activities.
Jones, A.J. (1951) define group guidance as any group enterprise or activity
in which the primary purpose is to assist each individual in the group to solve his
problems and to make his adjustment‘. Group guidance is used to address the
developmental needs of a functional group consisting of a number of students to
implement programme that would benefit them at all time. Students in group with
common problems and concerns are helped in groups i.e. small or large. In other
words, if guidance is to be available to all, it should be planned in groups.
Some of the objectives of group guidance are:
1. To help people in identifying common problems, analyze them and find
relevant
solutions
2. To place a wide range of information before people with common problems
which
could be useful for them for finding solutions?
3. To provide a platform where people with common problems could interact
with each
other and could be benefited by each other‘s perspectives, ideas and experiences
4. To help in creating an atmosphere where people could get an opportunity to
express
19
themselves and in the process analyze themselves.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Organization of Group Guidance Activities:
Planning of group guidance activity may focus the following points.
1. Need Assessment:
The need assessment must be done to find out the common problems of
individuals in the group. This can be done by administering questionnaire, checklists
and interview.
2. Determining size of the group and time, venue for group activities:
Depending upon the group activity the size of the group should be fixed. The
size should be approachable and manageable. The venue should be selected taking in
to account the group selected for activity.
3. Selection of members and role specifications:
The participants selection for group guidance activity is also very important.
The students for example should be communicated about their roles in group
activities.
4. Orientation of Members:
The group goals should be clarified. It should be stated in clear, objective and
measurable terms.
5. Monitoring of activities and evaluation of outcomes:
If we want to conduct the activities purposefully, it should be properly
monitored taking into account the goal/s. Feedback about activity needs to be
collected from participants.
Some of the common group guidance activities are: Class talk, career talk, displays
and exhibitions.
Techniques of Group Guidance:
A number of techniques are used in organizing group guidance.
Group Discussion:
For example at senior secondary stage students should have knowledge about
different career. A group discussion may be organized in the school. For organization
of the group discussion proper room/hall, group and relevant topic and
expert/resource person should be selected. The group discussion will be useful only if
the members participate effectively without the fear and all the members have the
opportunity to participate. But the effectiveness of the group discussion depends upon
the facilitator and the group selected.
Problem solving:
For solving individual as well as common problems, problem solving can be
applied as a technique. It comprises of the following steps;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
sExistence of common problem
Focused description of the problem
Initiation of action for solving problem based on relevant facts
Analysis of problem in the light of data collected
Listing of possible solutions and Evaluation of them
Acceptance of degree of acceptance of solution in the group
Role play:
In small group role playing can be adopted as a technique of guidance. Role
playing is a method where real life situations are simulated by group
members/participants. This provide new insight, intuitions, skills and understanding
of opposing viewpoints. The role playing may comprise of the following steps;
1. Existence of common problem20
2. Orientation of group to role playing and the problem
3. Assigning of roles.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
4.
5.
6.
7.
Preparation of other members/audience to observe intelligently
Assessing the role play
Concluding session and feedback
Other methods like case study and sociometric technique can be used as
group guidance technique.
Basic Principles of Guidance and Counseling
1. Guidance and Counseling is for everyone. The service is not only for those
with special handicaps but it is also meant for all “normal”, developing
children and adults;
2. Guidance and Counseling must be provided in a way that ensures human
dignity and worth. The full and adequate development of the individual
must be given preference. It should be seen as encouraging individuals to
attain maximum satisfaction, to realize their potentials and to be aware to
self. No one who has gone through counseling should feel inadequate;
3. Guidance and Counseling activities should therefore be based on the need
and total development of every person. It is the duty of all personnel in a
setting to identify the needs of individuals so that programme activities can
be designed to meet such needs;
4. There is a close relationship between counseling activities and the
instructional process, each contributing to the other. Counseling can help
make the instructional activities to be more relevant and meaningful to
the needs of
students, while the instructional activities can help to give necessary information
and directives to a student in planning his/her life goals;
5. Guidance and Counseling is a sequential, continuous and developmental
process, which starts from birth to death. This means that guidance and
counseling runs from the nursery school through primary, secondary to the
tertiary institutions. It is not a once-and-for-all event but a process which is
an integral part of the total educational programme throughout the school
life of an individual;
6. All guidance activities must emphasize the will for each student to learn
more about himself in an accurate and systematic manner. Through the use
of well- planned instructional strategies and appraisal techniques,
individuals can become more knowledgeable about themselves and about
the world around them. Without such knowledge, an individual cannot
exercise intelligently the rights to free choice in educational, vocational and
personal-social fields.
7. Effective leadership is the watchword for any effective guidance and
counseling programme. Guidance counselors who are qualified, well trained and competent are expected to function in schools and other
settings. Such professionals would be able to enlist the support of staff
members in effecting guidance activities.
8. Every member of staff in a school and non-school setting should assume
responsibility for guidance activities.
21 The principal, teachers and counselors
are all members of the guidance team and each member has prescribed
functions and roles.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
9. The practitioners should practice within ethical and moral limits. The
ethical and moral guidelines should be such that clients would feel secure
and confident in using the services provided. This also guarantees that
counselors will not use techniques and/or approaches for which they do not
have competence; and
10. (10) The objectives of counseling should be based on clients‟ needs and not
on the needs of the counselors. In pursuing such needs of the client, the
counselors must present a positive image.
Mental health
Mental health is a positive concept related to the social and emotional
wellbeing of individuals and communities. The concept is culturally defined, but
generally relates to the enjoyment of life, ability to cope with stresses and sadness, the
fulfillment of goals and potential, and a sense of connection to others. Mental health is
a desirable quality in its own right and is more than the absence of mental
ill‐health. It is relevant to all people, regardless of whether they are currently
experiencing, or recovering from, a mental illness. Mental health is a concept that
refers to a human individual’s emotional, psychological and intellectual well being. A
state of emotional & psychological well being in which an individual is able to use his
or her cognitive and emotional capabilities function in society, and meet the ordinary
demands of everyday life.
In general mentally healthy individuals value themselves, perceive reality as it
is, accept its limitation and possibilities, respond to its challenges carry out their
responsibilities, establish and maintain close relationships, deal reasonably with
others, pursue work that suits their talent and training and feel sense of fulfillment that
makes the efforts of daily living worthwhile. Definitions of mental health are
changing. It used to be that a person was considered to have good mental health
simply if they showed no signs or symptoms of a mental illness. But in recent years
there has been a shift towards a more holistic approach to mental health. Today we
recognize that good mental health is not just the absence of mental illness. Nor is it
absolute- some people are more mentally healthy than others, whether you are
mentally ill or not. These realizations are promoting a new kind of focus on mental
health that identifies components of mental wellness and mental fitness and explore
ways to encourage them. It is commonly known in the mental health field that in order
to achieve good mental health, you also need a healthy dose of self esteem. However
what has not been stressed adequately is the importance and need to nurture such
traits such as positive emotional wellness, optimism, memories and happiness.
Dianne Hales and Robert Hales define mental Health as “the capacity to think
rationally and logically and to cope with the transitions, stresses, traumas and losses
that occur in all lives, in ways that allow emotional stability and growth”.
Influences on mental health
Social determinants of mental health
Mental health is influenced by multiple biological, psychological, social and
environmental factors which interact in complex ways. The factors that determine, or
influence, mental health have been clustered into three key areas:
• Structural level factors include social, economic and cultural factors that are
supportive of positive mental health, such as safe living environments,
employment, and education;
• Community level factors include 22
a positive sense of belonging, activities to
highlight and embrace diversity, social support and participation in society;
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
• Individual level factors such as the ability to manage thoughts and cope with
stressors.
Risk and protective factors
The determinants of mental health can be expressed as risk and protective factors
that are associated with the mental health of individuals and population groups:
• Risk factors increase the likelihood that mental health problems and illnesses
will develop, or increase in duration or severity when a mental illness occurs.
Some risk factors play a causal role in mental illness (e.g. exposure to a
traumatic event is liked to the development of post‐traumatic stress disorder)
while other risk factors may be indicators that an individual is at higher risk
(e.g. the higher risk of depression generally in the postnatal period).
• Protective factors enhance and protect mental health and reduce the
likelihood an illness will develop. Protective factors enhance an individual’s
ability to cope with stressors and enjoy life. Some protective factors are
internal, such as a person’s temperament, while others are external, related to
social, economic and environmental supports.
Interventions aimed at risk and protective factors should consider differences
across cultures. For example, connection to culture and land would be classified as a
protective factor for Aboriginal communities, while people from culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds may come from societies where a focus on
collective wellbeing is seen as protective for the individual.
Characteristics of mental health:
Ability to enjoy life-
The ability to enjoy life is essential to good mental health, can you live in the
moment and appreciate the now? Are you able to learn from the past and plan for the
future without dwelling on things you can’t change or predict James Taylor wrote
that-the secret of life is enjoying the passing of time. Any fool can do it. There isn’t
nothing to it. The practice of mindfulness, meditation is one way to cultivate the
ability to enjoy the present. We of course need to plan for the future at times and we
also need to learn from the past. Too often we make ourselves miserable in the present
by worrying about the future.
Resilience:
The ability to bounce back from adversity has been referred to as resilience‘.
Are you able to bounce back from hard times. Can you manage the stress of a serious
life event without losing your optimism and a sense of perspective? It has been long
known that some people handle stress better than
others, why do some adults raised in alcoholic families do well, while others have
repeated problems in life? The Characteristic of resilience ‘is shared by those who
cope well with stress.
Balance:
Balance in life seems to result in greater mental health. Are you able to juggle
the many aspects of your life? Can you recognize when you might be devoting too
much time to one aspect, at the expense of others? Are you able to make changes to
restore balance when necessary? We all need to balance time spent socially with time
spent alone. e.g. Those who spend all of their time alone may get labeled as-loners and
they may lose many of their social skills. Extreme social isolation may even result in a
split with reality. Those who ignore the 23
need for some solitary times also risk such a
split. Balance these two needs seems to be the key- although we all balance these
differently. Other areas where balance seems to be important include the balance
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
between work and play, the balance between sleep and wakefulness, the balance
between rest and exercise, and even the balance between time spent indoors and time
spent outdoors.
Flexibility:
Do you feel and express a range of emotions? When problems arise can you
change your expectations -of life, others, yourself to solve the problem and feel better.
We all know some people hold very rigid opinions. No amount of discussion can
change their views. Such people often set themselves up for added stress by the rigid
expectations that they hold working on making our expectations more flexible can
improve our mental health. Mental healthy people experience a range of emotions and
allow themselves to express these feelings. Some people shut off certain feelings
finding them to be unacceptable. This emotional rigidity may result in other mental
health problems.
Self actualization:
Do you recognize and develop your strengths so that you can reach your full
potential? What have we made of the gifts that we have been given? We all know
people who have surpassed their potential and others who seem to have squandered
their gifts. We first need to recognize our gifts, of course, and the process of
recognition is part of the path toward self actualization. Mentally healthy persons are
in the process of actualizing their potential. In order to do this we must first feel
secure. There are just a few of the concepts that are important in attempting to define
mental health. The ability to form healthy relationships with others is also important.
Adult and Adolescent mental health also includes the
concepts of self esteem and healthy sexuality. How we deal with loss and death to also
an important of mental health. Mental Health is more than just the absence of mental
illness. It includes how you feel about yourself and how you adjust to life events.
However, the National Mental Health Association cites 10 characteristics of people
who are mentally healthy.
1. They feel good about themselves
2. They do not become overwhelmed by emotions such as fear, anger,
love, jealousy, guilt or anxiety
3. They have lasting and satisfying personal relationships
4. They feel comfortable with other people
5. They can laugh at themselves and with others
6. They have respect for themselves and for others even if there are
differences.
7. They are able to accept life‘s disappointments
8. They can meet life‘s demands and handle their problems when they
arise.
9. They make their own decisions
10.They shape their environment whenever possible and adjust to it
when necessary.
Need for Mental Health
Many people are reluctant to use mental health services because of the stigma
of having an emotional problem‘. Society
24 has a tendency to view mental health issues
differently from medical ones. When someone breaks a leg, has chest plains, or needs
to get a prescription, they‘ll see a doctor. However, when they experience depression,
excessive fears, or a problem with alcohol, they may be embarrassed to seek help.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Many people view these conditions as weaknesses’ they should handle themselves,
unfortunately, this view prevents them fro getting professional assistance that may
alleviate their problems.
To recognize an emotional problem and receive help is not at all a sign of
weakness. Rather, these positive actions are characteristics of strong individuals. Also,
seeing a therapist at a mental health clinic or student counseling centre is completely
confidential. No information will be released without your permission except in
situations involving child, or elder abuser or suicidal intent.
ROLE OF GUIDANCE PERSONNEL IN PROMOTING AND PRESERVING MENTAL HEALTH
The main purpose of the Mental Health Act is to provide authority, criteria
and procedures for involuntary admission and treatment. However, the Act also
contains protections to ensure that these provisions are applied in an appropriate and
lawful manner. Safeguards for the rights of people involuntarily admitted to a
psychiatric facility include rights notification, medical examinations at specified time
periods, second medical opinions on proposed treatment and access to review panels
and the court guide to the Mental Health Act 2
A person can only be admitted as an involuntary patient under the Mental
Health Act to facilities designated by the Minister of Health. The term-designated
facility‖ in the Act and in this Guide refers to designated inpatient-Provincial mental
health facilities‖,-psychiatric units‖ and-observation units‖. A list of hospitals and other
facilities designated as psychiatric units, Provincial mental health facilities (inpatient)
and observation units is in Appendix 1.
Observation units are short stay units in small hospitals, where the person is
stabilized within a few days and, if continuing inpatient treatment is necessary,
transferred. Section 22 (7) of the Act and Section 2(2) of the Regulation require that a
patient admitted to an observation unit must be transferred to a Provincial mental
health facility or a psychiatric unit within 5 days after a second Medical Certificate is
received by the director of the observation unit. This transfer requirement applies only
to patients who need further inpatient care and does not apply if the patient is
discharged, or released on extended leave (Section 6.0).
There is no legal authority for a hospital or any other health care facility that
has not been designated as a provincial mental health facility or a psychiatric unit or
observation unit to hold or admit a person for whom a Medical Certificate has been
completed. The hospital or certifying physician may have the patient transported to
the designated facility. It is the mutual obligation of the closest designated facility and
the non-designated hospital to find a bed for the patient. A non-designated hospital
should only care for the patient while-in transit‖ to a designated facility. As an
example, it is usually preferable to temporarily admit to hospital someone awaiting
transportation to a psychiatric unit than to hold them in a jail cell. Non-designated
hospitals are advised to develop protocols with the closest designated facility.
The person responsible for the operation of a designated facility is referred to
in the Mental Health Act as the-director. The director is responsible for ensuring each
patient is provided with professional service, care and treatment appropriate
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
to the patient‘s condition. Guide to the Mental Health Act Job stress can be defined
as the harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when the requirements of
the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker. Job stress can
cause poor health and can increase rates of work-related injuries and accidents.
Some potential causes of work related stress are overwork, lack of clear
instructions, unrealistic deadlines, lack of decision-making, job insecurity, isolated
working conditions, surveillance, and inadequate child-care
arrangements Although sexual harassment and discrimination are often
excluded from lists of traditional job stressors, they must be included in any
comprehensive analysis of the causes of workplace stress. Sexual harassment is a
stressor for women in the workplace; and discrimination is a stronger predictor of
health outcomes, including mental ill-health, for ethnic minorities than traditional job
stressors (20).
Some of the many effects of stress include numerous physical ailments as well as
mental health problems such as depression and increased rates of other possible
stress-reducing accommodations include:






altering the pace of work;
lowering the noise level of work;
providing water, tea or soda and crushed ice to combat a dry mouth
caused by some medications;
extra encouragement and praise of job performance, but only if
warranted and not obviously excessive;
while taking steps to reduce stress, avoidance of over-protection of the
employee;
making sure the employee is treated as a member of the team and not
excluded from social events, business meetings or other activities
relevant to the job.
26
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
E 105-GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
UNIT- II: ORGANISATION OF
GUIDANCE SERVICES IN SCHOOLS,
COLLEGES
PREPARED BY: DR. SHAZIA SIRAJ
ZARGAR
The centre of all guidance and counselling is the individual. Therefore, in any
guidance programme, we study and appraise the individual. While
emphasizing the importance of studying and appraising the individual Reavis
and
Judd write, “To attempt to guide the development of the pupil without an
intimate knowledge of his background and the sum total of experience is to attempt
the impossible.”
Jones emphasises, “Assistance in making choices should be based on as
through an understanding as is possible of the individuals, his basic needs and the real
circumstances surrounding the decisions.”
Thus, an important purpose of appraisal service is to gather information about
student that will aid them in understanding himself or herself and make meaningful
decisions about their future career.
Techniques for studying and appraising individuals
In studying and appraising the individual, data and information pertaining to
all aspects of life are required. A number of techniques are used for this purpose.
These techniques are developed by psychologists. They can be classified into (i)
Testing Techniques and (ii) Non-Testing Techniques
Non-Testing Techniques
These techniques are also known as non-standardized techniques. Non- testing
techniques for studying and appraising an individual are:
(i) Interview (ii) Observation (iii) Case Study (iv) Cumulative Record (v) Sociometric Techniques (vi) Questionnaire (vii) Rating Scales (viii) Anecdotal Record (ix)
Autobiography
We will discuss first two non-testing techniques in detail
1 Interview
Interview is one of the most important techniques used to collect data in
27
guidance and counselling. It is called “conversation
with a purpose.” It is face to face
relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. Various types of interviews
are used to understand the individual. These are:
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
(i) Diagnostic Interview: Here the purpose is to secure information about the
individual
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
(ii) Administrative Interview: A student misbehaves and principal calls him
and warns
him. Here the purpose is to self explanation, to warn, to punish or to modify
behaviour
(iii) Employment Interview: Here the purpose is to determine the fitness of
candidatefor a particular job.
(iv) Admission Interview: Here the purpose is to determine the fitness of a
candidate for a particular course.
(v) Informative Interview: Here the purpose is to impart information to the
interviewee
(vi) Research Interview: Here the purpose is to discover facts and figures for
the purpose of research.
(vii) Counselling Interview: Here the purpose is to help the individual
(counsellee) to solve the problems.
Here in this lesson we are concerned with the Counselling Interview:
Functions of Counselling Interview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To have a face to face contact with the interviewee and to assist him.
To collect information from the interviewee
To impart information to the interviewee
To motivate the interviewee and enable him to take interest in himself
To help the interviewee in solving educational, vocational
and psychological problems and making adjustments
The counselling interview is a face-to face situation involving two persons, in
which counsellor helps the counsellee in gaining insight into his problems and assists
him in solving the same.
Ruth Strang describes the interview as the heart of counselling process in
which other techniques are contributory. In the words of Erickson, “A counselling
interview is a person-to-person relationship in which one individual with problems
and needs turns to another person for assistance.” The essential feature of the
interview is a dynamic face-to-face relationship in which the counsellee is helped to
develop insights that lead to self-realization.
It is a type of person-to-person relationship and communication to explore the
problem of the client. Before the interview takes place, it is essential that interviewer
must be clear in mind about the person who is to be interviewed, his background, his
environment and his merits and weaknesses. He should be clear in his mind about the
technique and purpose of the interview. He should select the proper place and
atmosphere for the interview and arrange its secrecy. The
interviewee needs to be properly motivated. It is essential that interviewee should have
come voluntarily of his own and without any compulsion.
Steps in Counselling Interview
In order to make the interview meaningful and effective, the following steps
are
followed:
1. Preparation and establishment of rapport
2. Unfolding the problem
3. Joint working on the Problem
4. Closing of the Interview 29
5. Evaluation and
6. Follow up
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Preparation and the Establishment of the Rapport
It includes:
(i)
Schedule of Interview programme:
Schedule of interview should be prepared in advance. The date and
time of interview of each pupil in the class should be notified.
(ii)
Physical Setting:
An essential preparation for an effective interview is the proper
physical setting and environment. It should be conducted in a private room
free from noise, distraction or disturbance. A properly lighted room with
suitable temperature condition and a comfortable seat for the counsellee must
be ensured.
(iii)
Organised Material:
Material required for the interview should be organized and planned.
Even the opening sentence must be thought of
(iv)
Pre-Interview Conversation:
Pre-interview conversation is essential where the interviewee is
bashful or reserved. Appropriate topics for discussion for pre-interview are
hobbies or school events.
(v)
Establishing Rapport:
Rapport should be established. Rapport is characterized by mutual ,
cooperation, friendliness, sincerity and mutual confidence.
2. Unfolding the Problem
Unfolding the problem means to arrive at the problem. Methods of
unfolding the problems are:
(i)
Observation:
Two things should be observed.
(a) Physical reaction of the client - it may be in the form of bodily
tension, excitement or blushing
(b) Observation of clues for understanding the problem
(ii) Listening:
Interviewer should ask important, suitable and limited questions.
Questions should be well worded.
(ii)
Talking:
Problem can also be unfolded with the help of talking or mutual
conversation between the counsellor and the counsellee Joint working on the
Problem Here the counsellee is taken into confidence, pros and cons are
explained to him and the situation is arrived at through joint efforts. The
counsellor should increase rapport with the help of the following techniques:
(i)
Sympathy:
Show sympathy to the client or interviewee
(ii)
Assurance:
Give assurance to the counsellee that the problem will be solved.
(iii)
Humour:
Make use of humour in order to remove the tension to illustrate his
point of view.
(iv)
Personal References:
(v)
Non-Personal References:
Give personal references to the” client to illustrate the point of view
30
Give non-personal references about other persons who had similar
problems
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
(vi)
Reference to Consellee’s words:
Sometime start new topic for discussion by referring to the statement
made by the counsellee.
(vii)
Threat :
Sometime try to show to the interviewee the grave consequences that
may result if he follows a wrong course of action.
(viii) Approval:
Temporary approval of the action of the counsellee should be given in
order to encourage the feelings.
Closing the Interview
Interview should not be closed abruptly. See that the client is satisfied
and summarise the whole issue in a few sentences. Fix time if there is need
for another interview. Interviewer should see that he has recorded all the
necessary facts so that he can prepare a report.
5.
Evaluation
Interview may be evaluated under the following four headings and the
points of merits given above be kept in view:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
6.
Regarding the setting of the interview
(ii) Regarding the interviewer
iii) Regarding the Interviewee
Regarding the outcome of the interview
Follow Up
The follow up should be made to find out if the problem of the
counsellee has been solved and if he is moving in the right direction. It is also
essential for the improvement of the interview process on the basis of the
results shown by it. This should be a continuous process.
Subject Matter covered during the Interview
The following subject matter should be covered during the interview:
• The problem or reason for coming for interview
• Previous work history
• Educational history
• Hobbies, vocational and background
• Interests
• Family situation and background
• Social Activities
• Physical conditions
• Self-evaluation of appearance, abilities and personality
Advantages of Interview
The following are the advantages of the interview:
• It is the most flexible and dynamic way of understanding the
individual as a Whole
 It is natural like conversation
• It can be used for variety of purposes
• It helps the counsellee to understand himself and solve his problems
• It can be practiced on illiterate persons
• Interview is relatively easy to conduct.
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Limitations of Interview
The following are the limitations of the Counselling Interview;
• It is subjective
• It is time consuming
• It needs experts which are generally not available
• It is placed in an artificial situation
• Depression may take place during the interview and may spoil our
results
• Sometimes it is difficult to interpret the results of the interview
To conclude we can say that interview is essential in counselling process.
Although it has some limitations, it must be supplemented by other techniques.
Observation
Observation is one of the important techniques of collecting information about
the individual. In guidance and counselling, observation is the most commonly
employed of all individual techniques. Rousseuu wrote, “Watch nature long and
observe your pupil carefully before you say a word to him.” Behaviour is a reflection
of personality. It must be observed very carefully, intelligently and scientifically as
observation of behaviour has been recognized as basic to other techniques. For
reliable and dependable observation, however, observation must be organized or
planned, directed, specific, systematic, scientific, objective, reliable, qualitative, and
quantitative. Two important types of observation are:
(i)
Natural Observation:
In natural observation, we observe the specific behavioural
characteristics of children or adults in natural setting. Subjects do not become
conscious of the fact that someone is observing their behaviour. The teacher
can observe the behaviour of the students on the playground or in any other
social situation when students may not become conscious of his presence. In
child clinic, one way screen is used to observe the behaviour of deviant
children, the observer can observe the behaviour of children but they can not
see the observer.
(ii)
Participant Observation:
It is that type of observation in which the observer becomes the part of
the group which he wants to observe. He establishes perfect rapport with the
group of children or adolescents so that they may not become conscious of his
presence and may not hide their actual behaviour.
Requisites of Good Observation
Observation should have four characteristics:
(i)
Proper Planning:
Specific activities or units of behaviour i.e. single or group to be
observed must be clearly defined. The time of each observation period,
number of observations and interval between periods should be decided. The
instruments to be used for recording should be decided. Proper tools for
recording observation should be obtained and used.
(ii)
Proper Execution:
An expert execution demands cultivated skills and
resourcefulness on the part of the investigators. The proper physical
position for observing involves focusing attention on the units of
behaviour specific activities,
observing discreetly the length area,
32
number of periods and intervals decided upon, and proper handling of
the recording instrument used for observation.
(iii) Recording of Observation: It can be done in either of the two methods
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
(a) The first method is to record the observation simultaneously. It avoids
time gap, but makes the students conscious and are also difficult at
times.
(b) Facts may be recorded soon after the observation is over. It may not be
accurate due to time gap while it has the merit of not distracting the
mind of the student. As it is difficult to record the minute details so
check lists, or rating scales or score cards, blank form of tallying
frequencies are generally used.
(iii)
Interpretation:
Results should be interpreted cautiously and judiciously after taking
into account various limitations of planning, sampling or procedure.
Merits of Systematic Observation
Observational studies are particularly very important and yield significant
results on developmental characteristics of children. It has the following Advantages:
1. Being a record of actual behaviour of the child, it is more reliable,
valid, objective and scientific.
2. It is economical as it needs no laboratory and costly apparatus
3. It is flexible and can be used in gathering data in many situations.
4. It can be applied to observe the behaviour of children of all ages. Of
course, the younger the child, the easier it is to observe him. This
method has been found very useful with shy children.
5. It can be applied to observe the behaviour of individuals as well as of
a group.
6. This method can be used with little training and almost all teachers
can use it for understanding the behaviour of problem children,
backward children, delinquent children, gifted children and other types
of children.
7. It is not restricted to a test situation but it is applied to the naturally
occurring situations of life.
Hence, the method of observation has wide applications for studying
individuals in normal non-testing situations. No doubt, observation is a
scientific technique of collecting data whose results can be verified and relied
upon to locate behavioural problems of different types but it suffers from the
following limitations:
Limitations of Observation
1. It is very difficult to get trained observers. Untrained observers may gather
superfluous and irrelevant data.
2. It is subjective. Observer may become lenient i.e., he may give concessions
and allowances at one time and may be strict at another time.
3. Sometimes artificiality comes in the behaviour e.g. crocodile tears or
behaviour of hippocrates.
4. Sometimes we have to wait for long time for the occurrence of events. For
example, for observing the behaviour of an angry child, we have to wait
when he will become angry.
5. Some personal problems and experiences can not be observed i.e. sex
experiences.
33
6. With the help of observation, we can observe the external behaviour of the
individual. Internal behaviour of the individual can not be studied.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
7. Record may not be written with hundred per cent accuracy as the
observation is recorded after the actions of the observer. There is some time
lag.
8. Observation is subject to two kinds of errors, sampling error and observer’s
error.
The first error occurs because of inadequacies of selecting situation to be
observed. The observer’s error may be due to the knowledge and background of
the situation to be observed. Sometimes the observer is not familiar with the total
situation and hence he may commit error.
Informative Services
It is essential for the individual to understand the environments in which he
is to live, work and progress. The factors which add to the complexity of the
society continue to increase due to industrial specializations, technological
innovations, inventions, increased population, economic demand, social attitudes
etc. The individual needs to be kept abreast to adjust with the frustrations of the
nature of occupations, education and social aspects in particular. If adjustment is
to be made satisfactory, every individual must be aided to understand the everchanging requirements of his present and future environments. De to such factors
this service is to be a major part of the programme of guidance services. Generally
three identifiable but closely correlated phases of information, agreed to by the
guidance workers are: (a) Occupational Information (b) Educational Information,
(c) Personal Information. The service does not deal only with the interpretation of
the information but is concerned with sources, methods of filing and useful
techniques of interpreting the information of these three major kinds. The
information like World of work, training opportunities and technique of getting
alongwith others is of general value for all the pupils. The information is mostly
meant for groups and is exploratory rather than highly definitive. Thus the
information services make use of the major part of the group activities of the
guidance programme.
Administratyive problems of the Informative Services:
It pertains to three major inter-related categories:
1. Relating to Collection and Preparation of Information
2. Relating to Housing the Information
3. Relating to Presenting the Information
a. Collection and Preparation of Information:
It concentrates upon the selection of material. It may be collected from
brouchers, books, outlines, charts, film strips and films. One brochure may be
primarily devoted to discussion of given information and also contain training
facilities related to it. It may be prepared as under, for all the three categories.
b. Occupational:
Occupational abstracts, briefs, guides or monographs, books describing
one or more occupation in details, wall charts, film strips, films and periodicals
and news papers.
c. Educational:
College and University catalogues, directories of institutes of higher
education, summaries of scholarships and loans, directories of private schools,
34 wall charts, booklets with study habit
directories of technical schools, films,
suggestions.
d. Personal and Social:
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Booklets designed to help students to understand themselves and other work
book with reading guides, films, wall charts, brouchers with suggestions for good
grooming and variety of material on personal hygiene.
The following additional information of the following types is prepared:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Parent hand-book
Junior and senior high school hand-book
Charts emphasizing local information.
Film strips or slides of local industry, educational opportunities and
social life.
5. Supplement readings on local opportunities.
2. Responsibility for Collection of Information:
It must be remembered for all types of activities that even when it is a fact that
guidance is a specialized service to be handled by the experts, the fact remains that it
cannot be carried out by him alone. He needs the assistance and the co- operation of
all the other members of the staff. In the same way he needs the help of the teachers,
Counsellor, co-ordinator and librarian in the execution of the responsibility.
3. Evaluation of Information Services:
The following elements are essential for evaluating the information service:
a. Making available all the information they need.
b. Supplementary printing material with first hand contact with people in
occupations be considered.
c. Supplying educational, social and occupational information.
SOME ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS
In Indian institutions the organized programme can be of two types i.e. centralized
and decentralized service or combination of the two services.
a. Decentralised Service:
In the decentralized form of the service every effort is made to ensure a
placement service for every youngster, but little effort is made to undertake
uniform approach to perform or relate the service to one and other. Every teacher
has a group of students for whom he undertakes the service and staff members
also develop relations with given group of employers or representatives of training
institutions. Its disadvantage is the duplication of efforts and dissipation of
responsibility, which make it virtually impossible for an employer or institution to
obtain prospective adjustment from several student categories.
b. Centralised Service:
Because of the following merits, it has the advantage to be adopted
when required. A centralized placement officer is appointed.
a. The prospective employer has one contact.
b. The placement record can be put at one place.
c. Educational placement transcripts may be prepared from the same
records by some person responsible for job placement.
d. The staff members with personal placement contacts may be used in
a referral capacity from the central office.
e. One set of forms may be used throughout the community.
f. The Central Placement Director may maintain constant contact with
41
all employers and the registrars
of training institutions.
g. It is easier to develop an effective working relationship with other
placement agencies.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
PLACEMENT SERVICE
Generally, Counsellor or Vice-Principal or Vocational Coordinator looks
after it. It is not important as to who looks after this job. It is important that the
person should have interest in it and should have the requisite qualifications to
perform the job.
1.
2.
3.
4.
III.
Some training in guidance.
Organisational ability.
Reasonably, good acquaintance with the community.
A reputation for maintaining good relationship with other.
CO-ORDINATION OF THE WORK OF THE STAFF
The entire school staff has to contribute towards this service. The staff
members may be expected to do the following:
(a) Provide information about the students to be used in placement.
(b) Assist in the location of special opportunities.
(c) Maintain contact with employers, so as to allow requests to be
forwarded to the central office.
(d) Prepare units in courses of job-finding and related information.
(e) Prepare study units in the selection of a college and related
information.
The placement officer must also feel obliged. He should prepare, report of
the work of the central placement officer, a list of opportunities, new requirements
and recognition of certain staff members for their contribution to placement, or
some of the minimum effort to fulfil that obligation.
IV.
DEVELOPING RELATIONS WITH OTHER PLACEMENT AGENCIES
The school placement agency will be primarily concerned with part-time
placement and initial job placement when the student terminates his training.
Under these circumstances, the school placement service is not in direct
competition with other placement agencies but is rather a supplement service. It is
important for all the placement agencies to find out ways and means of increasing
the effectiveness of all placement agencies. In order to organize the placement
service on firm footings, the school administrator may find it desirable to work
closely with the representatives of placement groups in the community in the
earlier stages of school placement programme. Once the programme is
established, it becomes the responsibility of the placement director to maintain
and further strengthen the relationship that will result in maximum service for the
students.
FOLLOW-UP SERVICE
Follow-up is that review or systematic evaluation which is carried out to
know whether guidance service in particular and educational programme in
general satisfy the needs of the students. The students need to be followed in order
to determine the nature and extent of their need for assistance.
OBJECTIVES
42
After the study of the lesson, the student will be able to:
a.
Explain the Follow-up Service.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
b.
c.
d.
e.
Clarify the steps in the Follow-up Service.
Explain the importance of Follow-up Service.
To explain the methods of Follow-up Service.
To evaluate the Follow up Service.
FOLLOW-UP SERVICE
(a) THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FOLLOW-UP SERVICE
It is through the constant touch with the former students, which is called
follow-up service. Many a time, it is used to refer to some specific type of survey.
However, it includes regular activities scheduled at regular periods, reported
according to regular pattern and bringing about alterations in the school
programme. In fact, in U.S.A., follow-up programme is a yardstick by which the school
programme is measured from year to year.
In order to make this service more useful the issues may be divided as under:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The technique to be used in conducting the follow-up programme.
The staff responsible for the surveys.
Methods of reporting the results to the students, staff and parents.
Establishment of effective school community relationship.
THE TECHNIQUE OF FOLLOW-UP
The follow-up technique can make use of interview, post-card survey or
questionnaire or personal contact. Each of these has its own advantages and limitations.
The technique of interview provides most valid information, but is time consuming and
expensive. There can be some information which either the subject will be able to reveal
when convicted in person or can otherwise, be observed. The post-card survey is easy and
less expensive, accomplishes some of the objectives of the other techniques and in part, it
overcomes, limitations of other approaches. Suggestions about specific forms i.e.
questionnaire frequency of survey and general philosophy are to be found appropriate.
(c) STAFF RESPONSIBLE FOR FOLLOW-UP SERVICE
It should be the secondary responsibility of the instructional staff. As it involves
quite a lengthy duration of the period so it could better be done by selected the follow up
committee which should be the best method to do so that if some body leaves the job, the
work continued. In this committee, the personnel specialist should be the consultant
member, while chairman can be any other senior member of the group.
METHODS OF REPORTING RESULTS
The follow-up service is concerned with the interpretation of the results of
placement service. It can be done in so many ways and with a good number of motives.
Michigan State University has prepared a list of follow-up services with the cooperation
of Guidance and Counsellor training staff, for the use of the follow-up information.
(i)
Improving the Curriculum:
It is used to expand course offered such as commercial training, industrial arts,
general mathematics, college preparatory English, sociology, social living, general
arts, speech and distributive education on the bases of the results observed as a
result of follow-up.
(ii)
Stimulating Better Teaching:
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
It is used to change the school philosophy towards emphasis on meeting
individual needs. It helps to improve social adjustment of the individual. It
increases staff attention to identify the drop-out types of students. It is used to
change content material in subject-matter area. It is used to emphasis on the
importance of in-service training activities. All this can be possible when
programme, if the results depicted are not upto the mark. It will enhance the value
of total guidance programme.
(iii) Increasing the Values of the Guidance Service:
1. Add scheduled time for Counselling as a result of follow-up as a result of
follow-up some deficiencies come to light.
2. Procuring additional personnel with professional training in guidance and
counselling, in case it is found that the results depicted as a result of follow
up programme are such that the students are not properly adjusted.
3. To emphasize the extent of career information provided to the subject.
4. To make more purposeful use of cumulative records. In case the students
are not properly adjusted, at times the Counsellor in special efforts to work
with the detects of cummulative record, which might provide a deep insight
for adjustment.
5. Integrating guidance into total school programme. In Indian situation it
could happen that proper adjustment is not found when the guidance
programme is not fully integrated with the school programme of
educational guidance or in other words, the both are not properly interwoven.
6. To establish placement service on firm footings especially in case of
vocational guidance.
7. It is used to provide time for non-credited remedial classes in school areas
such as reading and writing improvement.
8. It is used to utilize local occupational information.
ESTABLISHMENT
RELATIONSHIP
OF
BETTER
SCHOOL
COMMUNICATION
It is used to make specific plans for closer co-operation among teachers.
a. Parents and students through scheduled conferences, open-house home
programmes and school bulletins.
b. It is used to initiate business-industry-education days. To maintain contact with
former students through a continuous follow-up programme. In USA, the
industrialists and business-men are actively involved in the affairs of the school
which proves very effective in so many way. The business-men are in a
positive
need if the requisite type of man-power and also give suggestions for the
improvement of school programme for the betterment of placement. All this becomes
possible when the follow-up programmes is more effective.
STEPS FOR REPORTING RESULTS
This may vary in every individual case. However, the recommended outline is as
follows
I.
II.
III.
Presenting values of follow-up44information.
Brief review of the survey design.
Limitation of the results.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
IV.
V.
Major findings.
Implementation for improvement.
The method by which the information is presented is conditioned by time,
imagination and materials available. It can be done by preparing charts, film strips
and slides to be used to interpret the results. It can be done by bringing out some
publications. The main aim is to present the information to obtain maximum results. It
is for the committee to identify the technique to be used for reporting the results and
that it continues on the same line in a circle.
EVALUATION OF FOLLOW-UP SERVICES
It can best be done by periodical checking. The sampling of students who are
working will reveal the percentage who obtained their jobs through the placement
service. This will reveal the usefulness of the service. The placement service would
be a study to determine amount of ‘over-ageness’ and ‘under- ageness’ in a school
system. In an interesting study, it has been revealed that many more girls than boys
had been accelerated in school and many more boys than restarted. Such studies make
sound judgement about the present functioning of the programme and clearly point
out steps to be taken to improve upon it. A very closely linked problem with the
follow-up service is the research findings of this type of programme. Guidance
movement is a functional and applied movement. Its functions are modified and
classified in the light of the results of its findings. The follow-up programme shows
the path for the change in the curriculum and co- curriculum activities in schools, the
organization of these services in schools, employment exchanges and enhancement of
the skill of the Voluntary Organizations to do this type of welfare service. In order to
make this service universally accepted the research finding need to be highlighted to
the community.
Conclusion
Out of about discussed guidance services to be organized for the establishment
of the programme, follow-up service is very important from a number of points of
views. This service is to be organized to have a look into how will the process take
place, when we have guided in finding the new solutions. It can be done in a number
of ways i.e. by giving a ring, organizing an interview, getting a questionnaire filled in
etc. but the most effective is to go in person to contact with person the subject and
know his difficulties and to work to remove those and able to improve upon the
guidance programme in the light of it. It can best be done if some staff is appointed
rather than doing it in spare time and doing the job half heartedly. It has been worked
out that it improves the curriculum, stimulates better teaching and also increases the
value of guidance from so many angles. It bring close contact between the school,
community and parents, industry and also employees. It can also be used as a tool to
rope in the industrialists in the functioning of the school, which help both the
employees and also employers. It is on the bases of the results of follow up that the
total guidance programme is put up on firm-footings. It need not be left to the hands
of the Government or NGO’s only.
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
E 105-GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
UNIT-III: COUNSELLING
PREPARED BY: DR. SHAZIA SIRAJ
ZARGAR
Counseling
Counseling is a process of helping individuals or group of people to gain selfunderstanding in order to be themselves. Counseling is a reflection of a professional
relationship between a trained counselor and a client. Olayinka (1972) defined it to be
a process whereby a person is helped in a face-to-face relationship while Makinde
(1983) explained counseling as an enlightened process whereby people help others by
encouraging their growth. Counseling is a process designed to help clients understand
and clarify personal views of their life space, and to learn to reach their selfdetermined goals through meaningful, well- informed choices and a resolution of
problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature. It believes that every human
individual has the potential for self-growth, self-development and self-actualization.
Counselling is ……
A process between two persons
A professional job of a professionally trained person
A process to help the person in solving his problems independently
Definitions
According to English and English Dictionary, “Counselling is a relationship in
which one person endeavours to help another to understand and solve his adjustment
problems”.
According to Shostorm and Brammer, “Counselling is a purposeful reciprocal
relationship between two people in which one, a trained person helps the other to
change himself or his environment”.
According to Ruth Strong Counseling is a face to face relationship in which
growth takes place in the counsellor as well as the counselee
According to Myers, “Counselling means a relationship between two persons
in which one person provides special assistance to the others.”
According to Webster dictionary counselling is defined as ―Consultation,
mutual interchange of opinions, deliberating together.‖ ―
According to Wren, “Counselling is a dynamic and purposeful relationship
between two people who approach a mutually defined problem, with mutual
consideration of each other to the end that the younger or less mature or more troubled
of the two is aided to a self determined resolution to his problem”.
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
According to Shertzer and Stone, “Counselling is an interaction process which
facilitates meaningful understanding of self and environment and results in the
establishment and or clarification of goals and values for future behaviors”.
According to Merle M. Ohlsen, “Counselling is an accepting, trusting and safe
relationship in which clients learn to discuss openly what worries and upsets them, to
define precise behaviour goals, to acquire the essential social skills and to develop the
courage and self confidence to implement desired new behavior.
According to Edwin Lewis, “Counselling is a process by which a troubled
person (client) is helped to tell and behave in a more personally satisfying manner
through interaction with an uninvolved person (counsellor) who provides information
and reactions which stimulate the client to develop behaviour which enable him to
deal more effectively with himself and his environment.
If all the definitions are analyzed we can come to the following conclusions.
Counselling is a two way process.
1. It involves two individuals.
2. There is mutual relationship between two individuals.
3. It helps an individual to gain self understanding self acceptance and
self realization
Characteristics of Counselling
1. The aim of counselling is to help a student form a decision, make a choice or
2.
3.
4.
5.
seek direction
It helps a counselee to acquire independence and develop a sense of
responsibility, explore and utilize his potentialities.
It is more than advice giving. The progress comes through the thinking that a
person with a problem does for himself rather than through solutions offered
by the counsellor.
Its function is to produce changes in the individual that will enable him to
extricate himself from his difficulties. Emotional rather than purely intellectual
attitudes are the raw material of the counselling process.
It helps an individual to know himself better, gives him confidence,
encourages his self-directedness and provides him with new vision to grow.
It develops mutual relationship between two persons.
It makes the Problem clear through discussion.
6.
7.
Principles of Counselling:
The principles on which the process of counselling is based are-
1. Warmth: The Counsellor should communicate personal warmth and
make the client feel welcome valued as individuals.
2. Acceptance: The Counsellor should accept the person & his feelings for
what he is without criticizing him. He should also accept the person
irrespective of age, race, sex, etc.
3. Genuineness: The counsellor should be very honest with himself and
with client he should be very open, friendly and undefensive.
4. Empathy: Instead of showing sympathy to the person having problem,
the counsellor should show empathy, which means to sense the feelings
and experience of another person.
47
In order to make good relationship the above qualities should be acquired by a
counsellor. He should imbibe these qualities to follow the principles of counselling
properly.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Types of Counselling
1. Directive
2. Non Directive
3. Eclectic
Directive Counselling
Williamson is the chief exponent of Directive counselling. It is
Counsellor Centred and Prescriptive. E.G. The counsellor assumes the major
responsibility of solving the problem. Counsellor identifies, defines, diagnoses
and provides a solution to the problem. Counsellor directs thinking by
informing explaining, interpreting and advising. Counsellor- oriented.
Emphasis is on the problem.
Steps: Role of the Counsellor
1. Analysis:- collecting data from various sources to understand the
client‘s problem.
2. Synthesis:-interpreting and organizing data to reveal students assets,
liabilities, adjustments etc.
3. Diagnosis:- identifying the nature and cause of the problem.
4. Prognosis:- predicting the future development of the problem.
5. Counselling:- taking steps to bring about adjustment.
6. Follow up:‐ Evaluation of the effectiveness of counseling.
Merits
1. Time saving and economical
2. Gives happiness to the counselee as he gets a solution to this problem.
3. Emphasis is on the intellectual rather than the emotional aspect.
Demerits
1. Client is dependent
2. Fails in saving the client to commit the mistakes in future
3. Scarcity of information regarding the client can create the possibility
of wrong counselling
4. Emotional problems may be better solved by Non Directive
counselling
Non Directive Counselling:
The Chief exponent of non-Directive Counselling is Carl Rogers. It is Client
Centred, Permissive Counselling.
1. Counselee is allowed free expression
2. Counsellor only directs and guides
3. Counsellor asks a few questions, so as to think about the solution of the
problem.
4. Counselee takes active part, gains insight into the problem with the help of the
counsellor and arrives at the decision and action to be taken Counsellor‘s role
is passive
5. Goal is independent and integration of the client rather than the solution
6. Role of the counsellor is to create an atmosphere in which the counselee can
work out his own understanding 48
7. Emotional aspect rather than the intellectual aspect is stressed
8. Counselling relationship is the establishment of a warm, permissive and
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
accepting climate which helps the client to express his self structure.
Procedure of Non-Directive counseling
1. Defining the problematic situation
2. Free expression of feeling
3. Classification of positive and negative feeling
4. Development of insight
5. Termination of counselling situation
Merits
1. of the problem solving ability
2. Removes the emotional blocks, help individual to bring out repressed
thoughts and reduces tension
3. Leaves its impression for a longer time
4. Freedom of the individual
5. Relieves tensions due to catharsis
6. Moves toward acceptance of himself
7. Confronts weaknesses without feeling threatened
Demerits
1. Slow and time consuming process
2. Wisdom and judgement of the client cannot be relied upon
3. All the problems cannot be sorted out through talking
4. It revolves around the client
5. Client leads the conversation
6. Sometimes due to the counsellors passiveness, the client hesitate in
expressing his feelings
7. Open ended questions are asked
8. Diagnostic instruments are not used
9. Client can act with his own intellect
10. The entire responsibility is of client
11. All the problems cannot be solved orally
12. Not successful always
Eclectic Counselling (Chief exponent-Bordin Thome)
1. Coordinative methods are used
2. The need and personality of the client are studied and then he selects the
techniques
3. The main techniques used are reassurance, giving information, case
history, testing
4. Both counsellor and client are active and cooperative, they participate in
conversation turn wise and solve the problem
5. Counselling may be evaluated along a continuum from directive to non
directive to directive
6. Eclectic is a continuation and synthesis of directive and non-directive
counselling
7. Both counsellor and counselee are active and cooperative
8. Both do the talking in turn
9. The problem is solved jointly
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Procedure (Steps) of eclectic Counselling
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Initial interview
Develops rapport and does structuring so that client understands
what to expect from the counselling
Tentative diagnosis and plan of counselling is formulated
Gathers information about the client and the client needs to be
helped to assimilate this information.
Client achieves emotional release and gains insights,
modifies perceptions/attitudes about himself and situations
Advantages:
1. Practical value is very high
2. Both client and counsellor are active
Disadvantages:
1. Some people are of the view that both the types cannot be mixed together
2. Vague and opportunistic
3. Question arises how much freedom should be given to the client, no
definite rule
Process of counseling
There are three Stages of counseling process
The First Stage: Initial Disclosure:
In first stage Counselor tries to understand the nature of the problem of the
client. For that he first establishes repo with client. He develops relationship of
trust and confidence so that the client can disclose his feelings and his problems.
Here he gathers information to promotes understanding of clients problem. For
that he can use different tools and techniques.
Initially the client expresses two sets of feelings i.e. i) I know I need help
ii) I wish I weren‘t here. Therefore central task of the counsellor in this stage is to
allay the client‘s fears and encourage self-disclosure. Attending paying careful
attention to the client‘s words and actions.
Counsellor observes clients behavior for indications of content and feeling
not expressed in verbal message. It is the first contact between the client and the
counsellor, but it remains important throughout the counselling process. In this
stage, clients are helped to articulate their personal concerns and to place those
concerns in a context so that the counsellor can understand the personal meanings
and significance the client attaches to them. The main aim of this stage is promote
trust in the client.
Following characteristics describe the helping relationship.
Empathy - Understanding others experience as if it were yours.
Genuineness - Being natural, consistent in behavior and dependable in the
relationship.
Unconditional positive regard - Caring without condition
Concreteness - Using clear language to describe the client‘s situation.
The Second Stage: In-depth Exploration
In second stage i.e. in depth exploration the counselor and client try to
explore the problem further. In this stage hey try to understand the problem and
its solution. They identify the nature of the problem and what kind of change is
required to solve the problem, what can50be the future of the problem and to solve
this problem what are the resources and then the explore possible approaches
Client begins to formulate a new sense of hope and direction.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
Counsellor at first discusses the diagnostic impressions of the client‘s dynamic
and coping behavior.
As the relationship becomes more secure, the counsellor begins to
confront the client with observations about his/her goals or behavior. This will
help the client arrive at newly challenged and refined views of self.
Commitment to action
After that counselor helps the client to chose the best option and
they plan out the course of action. The counselor helps the client to fulfill
the plan and get feedback at the end Client relates his behaviour to
accomplish goals. This stage includes identifying possible alternative courses
of actions (decisions) the client might choose. Once an action decision is
made the client tries some new behaviors. The counsellor supports and
reinforces the trying of new behaviors.
ORGANIZATION OF GUIDANCE SERVICES AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL
(a) The age of elementary class students is the most impressive period
during the schooling of the child. However, at this period of time the
child is so immature that any type of systematic guidance is difficult to
be provided to him. Even when it is a fact that much of the guidance
need not be provided to the students at this stage it is also a bare fact
that the qualities of the students can best be located when he is studying
at this level of schooling and encouraged to be further developed so that
his original interest crystalise at latest stage. All these
informations are further strengthened during the further years of schooling, What
teacher needs to do is to keep a proper record of it, to encourage the student to
strengthen his intrinsic interests and aptitudes and also to provide them guidance
if they are not adjusting with the class as well as the school. However, keeping
proper record of such students in the procedural record and cumulative record
proves to be of great help during the further schooling programme used also
providing some training guidance to him. It is thus essential that all the
elementary school teachers should during their training, be acquainted with
guidance programme so that they are in a position to keep proper record and help
other experts if need be. It is also here that the proper foundation of the guidance
programme will be laid down.
Two Types of Approaches Preventive and Developmental Approach:
a) Preventive Approach of Guidance:
The elementary teacher is to look after and involve many preventive and
protective services such as classroom guidance, group counselling,
consultation etc. It becomes the duty of the teacher to provide guidance,
schooling by emphasizing activities counselling service, co-ordination of
activities, others and curricular development. The teacher is to observe the
child minutely and help him to adjust with the classroom environment with
other students with the teaching material etc. The cumulative record is to be
maintained in a systematic way. This information is to be collected from the
students, their parents and other teachers. In case the teacher is in a position to
51 of the student, he can discuss it with
locate any alignment with the behaviour
parents as both the school and the house can help to smooth the growth for the
proper development of the child. If need be the help of the doctor as specialist
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
can also be arranged. The teacher of primary level can have some sessions
with these students who have one type or the other problem and examine the
causes and remedies to help him to adjust in a better way. If needed, he can
discuss the problem with the school counsellor and seek his help.
b) Developmental Approach of Guidance:
The guidance worker is to see that children’s experience and exchange
socialization skill and positive self-concept. This includes offering pre- social
classroom guidance lesson in group. In order to provide such facilities in the
Elementary Schools in USA, Myrick has recommended a projective,
developmental comprehensive approach to guidance programme. It includes
large classroom meetings and the equal number of
small group meetings. The activities force on structured team up activities,
such as understanding on self, discuss large classroom, making, problem
solving, establishing healthy boy-girl relationships and learning time, get
along with teacher and how to make friends. In order to achieve these goals
the counsellor will organize service with teachers/ administrators and parents.
The counsellor addresses mothers on matters of common concern and teach
new ways of handling old problem by getting many people committed to work
in cooperative manner. In this way, the guidance programme will help the
problem children by identifying them and providing them individual guidance.
In order to be able to provide effective guidance programme the assessment of
their needs is done. This type of assessment is generally done with the
cooperation of fellow teachers, community and students. It has been worked
out that this need assessment is concentrated in four main areas i.e. school,
family relation, relationship with others and the self. Young children often
respond best to the counselling strategies build around a technique that
requires active participation. Play therapy and bibliography are two strategic
inversions that help counsellor’s establishment rapport with young children
and facilities their self-understanding. Play therapy is a specialized way of
working with children that requires skill based training. It is covered more
frequently in the counsellor’s education programme. In order to enhance selfesteem, counsellor needs to focus on helping children to improve upon the
critical areas of school i.e. academic competencies, self-concept,
communication skill, coping ability and control. Counsellor can also enhance
self-esteem by having children look at themselves through the eyes of this
special person. In this treatment modality children pretend to be artist, drawing
special people in their lives who love them. After drawings are complete
children pretend to be special persons on whom they have drawn, thus seeing
themselves through loving eyes. Through the drawings children improve their
self-concept, self-confidence and social and academic possibilities. Needless
to say that we will have to make our Elementary Teacher Training Programme
(ETT) more guidance oriented and increase the guidance content in it along
with some practical training to be imparted. For the time being, a counsellor
can be appointed to coordinate this working in a cluster of schools. If the
practice of providing guidance services is established at elementary school
level, it will help in the establishment of such services at secondary level.
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
ORGANIZATIONS OF GUIDANCE PROGRAMME AT SECONDARY LEVEL
When the guidance services are to be recognised in secondary schools, it becomes
that all the members of the staff properly understand that it is team work and it can
only be organized if all of them actively participate in it. First of all the senior
officers of the school administration need to be provided with complete
knowledge of this service and their interests cultivated in it. They need to be made
acquainted with these services established in developed nations, researches carried
out its uses in human resources development, its uses in the progress of
development, new developments in this field and expenditure made by such
nations in it, need to be further made clear to them. ORGANIZATION OF
FACULTY
1. Faculty Guidance Committees:
At the time of organizing guidance service in school first of all a
permanent faculty committee be organized with Headmaster as the President,
counsellor as the Secretary and all those teacher who have had some training
as its member. This committee should frame the policy fix its targets, acquaint
all the staff members, parents and students with the benefits of its services, to
get the expert advise for the organization of guidance services and to act upon
it and to evaluate guidance service and to bring requisite changes in it. It will
be better if the council is made the incharge of the programme and it should
involve all the teachers in it. In order to give proper representation on the
committee.
2. Headmaster of the School:
The Headmaster should have full faith in the guidance services and his
philosophy of education be clear about its relationship with guidance. He must
call the meeting of the guidance committee maintain its record and have
democratic discussion. He should introduce cumulative records and train class
teachers about mode of filing proper information in it and maintain it. He
should work as Public Relations Officer and maintain good relations with
students, teachers, social workers, employment officers, district level officers
and Principals of colleges etc. All this will not only help him to cultivate his
real interest in it, but make him, the leader of the team for providing guidance
facilities to the students.
3. Counsellors and Career Master:
The work of counsellor can be done by a teacher who has undergone at
least one years special training of counsellor. He is to perform all the services
including counselling, administrating of psychological list, research and to
suggest changes in the light of research finding. The career master is capable
of performing only a few of these services even when he understands all these
services. As a rule when the guidance services are established in a high school
at first a career makers is appointed in it.
4. Teacher:
The counsellors in high school environments are to concentrate on the
following four tasks :
1. Organising and making available to students comprehensive
information systems necessary for educational and vocational
planning and decision- making.
2. Organising and presenting53 classroom curricula that focus
development of adolescents.
3. Helping students to assess the personal characteristics.
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
4. Providing remedial interventions for students needing special help.
Even when guidance services are not established in a school, the
teacher does provide certain aspects of guidance services. It has been
well said that all guidance is education, but all education is not
guidance. Teacher is a friend guide and leader of the students. While
teaching his own subject, the teacher can provide occupational
information to them. He needs to be well acquainted with the
different types of information, which affects his studies such as
intelligence level, social interaction level, health and economic
problems etc. While teaching his own subject, the teacher should
provide occupational information to the students by correlating it
with his subjects as and when these are an occasion for it. He is
supposed to provide full co-operation to the counsellors about the
students.
5. School Psychologist:
The school counsellor is too be busy with so many multipurpose
activities, so at times in each school, or in a group of schools a
psychologist is appointed who conducts the needed psychological test and
interpret them. For work being of highly technical native only a qualified
person is appointed. He is always to be of great help to the counsellors.
6. Health Department of School:
As a rule every large school should have a full time doctor, a
dentist, a psycholinguist and nurse. However, till this stage is not ripe the
Government must ensure that doctors appointed in hospital visit the
schools and provide needed medical aid to the students.
7. Librarian:
The librarian can be helpful to the extent that he collects the books,
journal and pamphlets on guidance, occupational information and provide
necessary help to students for their use.
8. Co-operation of Parents:
The social conditions in our country are such that parents needs to
be enlightened that children should be allowed to make their own
decisions about their problems. It is better to prepare a checklist of the
needed information such as what parents expect of their wards, the
numbers of his brothers and sisters and his relationship with the types of
educational facilities available at home. The parents should be encouraged
to express their views in a free and frank manner. They should be dealt
with psychologically.
9. Co-operation of Other Organizations:
In order to establish guidance services on firm footing it is essential to
get the cooperation of guidance clinics, employment exchange, teachers
parent associations, organizations of industrialists, doctors, students
unions, religious and labour organizations etc.
a. Student Welfare Services:
Organizations like Teacher Parent Associations, Lion’s club,
Rotary clubs etc. organize different types of services for the students
such as medical aid, economic
54 help etc. There can be of immense help
to the school and associated to solve their problems of many students.
b. Accommodations:
Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
In every school a guidance corner with extensive information about occupations,
shortage occupations, surplus occupations, training facilities, professional loans, etc. is
a must to be established. In the same way this cumulative record will have to be
maintained in good conditions as these are to be used for quite a longer time. In actual
practice a good many types of entries such as school achievements, achievements in
co-curricular
activities
and
important
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
developments etc. can be made in it time and again so it will have to be suitably placed under
the supervision of the counsellor for which proper accommodation is to be provided along
with other requisite material such as cumulative recording material, filing cabinet etc.
In this way, if the guidance is to be established on firm failings, which
is becoming a necessity i.e. separate room with the above facilities will
have to be made for the guidance workers to shoulder his responsibilities
Anxiety:
When we feel threatened most of us will experience anxiety or fear. Some
experiences will trigger anxiety in most of us (e.g., thinking about giving a talk to a
large number of people or thinking a bear might be following you while walking in
the forest). In our daily lives the things that make us feel anxiety can vary from person
to person. For example, some people feel very anxious about snakes or spiders while
others have them for pets. When it comes to anxiety, ALL humans are naturally
programmed to react with the “fight-flight-freeze” response. Anxiety and the fightflight-freeze response is a normal alarm reaction. We would not have survived as a
species if we did not have anxiety and the fight flight- freeze response as it allows us
to sense danger and react in a way that keeps us safe. Anxiety causes changes in the
body that increase our ability to: defend ourselves against the source of danger
(“fight”) get away from something dangerous (“flight”) remain still enough to avoid
being detected by a source of danger (“freeze”)
Symptoms of Anxiety:
1. Emotions (How we feel)
The emotions associated with anxiety can also be described as feeling fearful,
worried, tense, on guard, scared, apprehensive, frightened, “freaked out”, etc. We usually
know we are feeling the emotion of anxiety when we are also experiencing anxious body
responses, thoughts, or behaviours.
2. Body responses (How our bodies react)
Anxiety can trigger a range of body responses involving blood flow, the heart, the
lungs, muscles, vision, hearing, skin, hair, digestion, saliva, and other body systems. Anxiety
causes a range of physiological changes in the body that can lead to the following symptoms:
1. Rapid heart, heart palpitations, pounding heart
2. Sweating
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
3. Trembling or shaking
4. Shortness of breath or smothering sensations
5. Dry mouth or feeling of choking
6. Chest pain or discomfort
7. Nausea, stomach distress or gastrointestinal upset
8. Urge to urinate or defecate
9. Cold chills or hot flushes
10. Dizziness, unsteady feelings, lightheadedness, or faintness
11. Feelings of unreality or feeling detached from oneself
12. Numbing or tingling sensations
13. Visual changes (e.g., light seems too bright, spots, etc.)
14. Blushing or red blotchy skin (especially around face)
15. Muscle tension, aches, twitching, weakness or heaviness
These symptoms of anxiety are uncomfortable but they are not dangerous (and can
even be helpful). For example, our hearts pump faster when we feel anxious to help us get
more blood to the muscles in our legs and arms that we need to run away, fight or remain
still until the danger passes. We might also feel dizzy or light-headed due to the sudden
increase in blood oxygen that happens as the heart pumps faster— this is a harmless side
effect of the anxiety response. Some people also feel nauseous because the body shuts
down our digestive system in the face of danger to save energy. The pupils in our eyes
will often open up widely (allows us to see better) and often leads to light sensitivity or
seeing spots. Each of the body symptoms listed above can be traced back to some kind of
harmless or helpful change that is triggered by anxiety.
Note: The symptoms of anxiety do overlap with symptoms of some medical
conditions. Always review any body symptoms of anxiety with your physician so that
medical conditions can be ruled out.
3. Thoughts (What goes through our mind)
When we feel anxious our patterns of thinking can change. We are more likely to
notice and think about things related to real or potential sources of danger. The following
are some common thinking patterns associated with anxiety:
1. Frightening thoughts, images, urges or memories
2. Something bad happening to self (dying, not being able to cope, being
responsible for something terrible happening, embarrassing ourselves, etc)
3. Something bad happening to someone else (family member dying, a child
being harmed, spouse having an accident, etc)
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
4. Something else bad happening (house burning down, personal possession
being stolen, car crash, terrorist attack, etc)
5. Increased attention and scanning for things related to the source of danger
6. Difficulty concentrating on things not related to the source of danger
7. Difficulty making decisions about other things
8. Frightening dreams or nightmares
4. Behaviours (How we respond)
Anxiety triggers a number of coping behaviours. Most of us will feel a strong urge
to do things that eliminate the danger or make us feel safer. These are referred to as safety
behaviours and common examples are listed below:
1. Avoiding the feared situation, experience, place or people
2. Escaping or leaving the feared situation, experience, place or people
3. Needing to be with a person or pet who makes us feel safe
4. Getting reassurance from others
5. Telling ourselves reassuring things (e.g., “It will be ok”)
6. Finding a safe place to go to
7. Scanning the situation for signs of danger
8. Trying to distract ourselves
9. Self-medicating the symptoms with drugs, alcohol or food
10. Sleeping or napping so we don’t have to think about it
11. Carrying items that may prevent or help cope with a panic attack (e.g.,
medications, cell phone, vomit bag, etc).
12. Compulsive behaviours that we repeat in an attempt to feel better (e.g.,
excessive cleaning or checking)
13. Mental rituals that we repeat in our minds in an attempt to feel better (e.g.,
thinking the same word or phrase over and over)
Treatment of Anxiety
Medications
Medications (pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders) impact the
symptoms of anxiety disorders at the biochemical level. A variety of medications are
available that help improve symptoms presumably by influencing important
neurotransmitters in the brain. Several medications have been shown to significantly
lower symptoms for some people suffering from anxiety disorders. Some of the most
commonly used medications are listed briefly below.
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SRIs)
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These medications are also known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
(SSRIs). Examples include paroxetine (Paxil), fluvoxamine (Luvox), sertraline
(Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac) and citalopram (Celexa). These medications were first
used as antidepressants but are also effective in treating some anxiety disorders. They
typically take several weeks before benefits can be observed. Common sides effects
can include dry mouth, drowsiness, constipation, gastrointestinal symptoms, headache
and sexual dysfunction. In some people, these medications can cause a temporary
increase in anxiety when they are first started.
Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)
Examples include amitriptyline (Elavil), imipramine (Tofranil), and
clomipramine (Anafranil). These medications were originally used in the treatment of
depression but are also effective in treating some anxiety disorders. Like the SRIs, it
typically take a few weeks before benefits are observed and common side effects
include dry mouth, drowsiness, constipation, gastrointestinal symptoms, headache and
sexual dysfunction. The TCAs are an older class of medication than the SRIs, and in
some individuals can cause problems with low blood pressure.
Benzodiazepines
Examples include alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), diazepam
(Valium), and clonazepam (Rivotril). These medications work very quickly. However
they are not recommended for long-term use for anxiety disorders as they can be
addictive and lose their effectiveness over time. Common side effects can include
drowsiness, fatigue, unsteadiness, lightheadedness, and memory problems. Elderly
individuals should avoid taking this class of medication when possible.
Benzodiazepines can also interact with alcohol, other medications and drugs.
Beta blockers
Examples include propranolol (Inderal), nadolol (Corgard), and atenolol
(Tenormin). Beta blockers are primarily used to reduce the physiological symptoms
associated with anxiety (e.g., heart palpitations, excessive sweating,
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Central University of Kashmir, Dept. of Education, M.A. Education Programme E-Content
excessive trembling or shaking, etc). They work by reducing blood pressure and
slowing the heart beat.
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs)
Examples include phenelzine (Nardil) and tranylcypromine (Parnate). These
medications were originally used in the treatment of depression but are also effective
in treating some anxiety disorders. The MAOIs require strict dietary restrictions (e.g.,
no wine, cheese or foods with tyramine) and can not be taken with a large number of
other medications.
Other medications
There are also a range of other medications that are used in the treatment of
anxiety disorders such as buspirone and venlafaxine. There are also a range of newer
medications that have not yet been thoroughly researched. Ask your physician or
psychiatrist to review each medication option with you in detail.
Costs and coverage
Medication treatment is typically provided by physicians or psychiatrists.
Visits to these health professionals are free under the current Medical Services Plan in
BC. There is typically some cost involved in purchasing the medications as
prescription coverage is typically less than 100% on most health benefit plans. Plan G
is a mental health prescription drug plan that provides medications for low income
residents who can not afford medications and are at risk for serious consequences
such as hospitalization. For more information about the No-Charge Psychiatric
Medication Program (Plan G) contact your physician or psychiatrist. For forms and
more information contact your local mental health services center (listed in the blue
pages of your telephone directory under Health Authorities). For more detailed
information about medications for anxiety disorders including typical doses, answers
to frequently asked questions and a checklist you can use to track common side
effects see The Feeling Good Handbook (Revised Edition, 1999) by David D. Burns.
Commonly used alternative or complementary treatments used by people with anxiety
symptoms include the following:






relaxation techniques
eye movement
herbal medicines
megavitamins
homeopathy
naturopathy
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









osteopathy
acupuncture
yoga
dietary modifications
special diet for gaining or losing weight
lifes
tyle diet
energy healing aromatherapy
laughter
folk remedies
Management of Anxiety
1. Managing bodily symptoms
It is often the excessive body symptoms of anxiety (including panic attacks) that
cause problems for people with anxiety. These symptoms are not dangerous; many people
feel better when they have skills to better manage them. Evidence-based strategies include
controlled breathing or muscle relaxation.
a. General tips
Do not wait until you are feeling really anxious to learn and practice controlled
breathing or other forms of relaxation. Instead put aside time to master these strategies
when your anxiety levels are low. As your skills increase so will your ability to use these
same strategies when your anxiety is higher. It is normal to feel a bit anxious when you
first use these strategies. It can be a new, unfamiliar or even scary experience trying to let
our guard down when we have been coping with excessive anxiety. Eventually the
anxiety will pass and we begin to feel the benefits of controlled breathing and relaxation.
It is normal to feel a bit dizzy or lightheaded when you first start using these strategies as
they can result in an initial burst of oxygen to the brain. This is not dangerous and
indicates you are successfully engaging in relaxed breathing. These skills take time and
practice to be effective.
2. Muscle relaxation
Another strategy to manage bodily symptoms of anxiety is to combine
controlled breathing with muscle relaxation skills. For easy to follow instructions for
basic muscle relaxation, please see the BC Partners’ website. Our version takes
approximately 20 minutes for beginners but can be shortened down to about 5
minutes with practice.
3. Other sources for step by step relaxation skills:
a. Healthy thinking patterns
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Our thinking patterns and our beliefs about the world have a very strong impact
on our feelings, our behaviours, and our bodily reactions. When negative thoughts
become distorted they are not entirely based on the facts even though it feels like they are
true. People with anxiety disorders often feel like anxious thoughts pop into their minds
even when they don’t want to be thinking about them. The negative thinking patterns
associated with anxiety disorders can also make us feel sad and angry.
b. Negative thinking patterns
We all engage in some or all of these distorted thinking patterns from time to timewhether we have an anxiety disorder or not. Take the following survey to figure out which
kinds
of negative thinking patterns are associated with your excessive anxiety. Check off all of those
that apply to you.
c. Self-managing negative thinking patterns
If we believe these ways of thinking are true, we are more like to experience
symptoms of anxiety. It can be helpful to figure out which of your negative thinking patterns
are true, which ones are false and which ones need a little bit of adjusting. For example, some
people with OCD who fear getting HIV are able to reduce their feelings of anxiety and
avoidance of other people when they learn we can not catch HIV by touching doorknobs.
4. Focus on the successes
When managing an anxiety there are often bumps along the road (e.g., symptom flare
ups, days when effective self-management strategies are not used effectively, etc). A support
person can help the affected person remember that ups and downs are normal and to be
expected. The best thing to do is focus on the positives. Compliment your loved one for
successes including approaching things they fear, doing new things, working on more
positive and healthy ways of thinking, getting more information about the anxiety, use of
relaxation strategies and more. Positive feedback helps create a positive cycle as it usually
increases a person’s motivation to do even more to better self-manage the anxiety.
Stress
Stress is the way human beings react both physically and mentally to changes, events,
and situations in their lives. People experience stress in different ways and for different
reasons. The reaction is based on your perception of an event or situation. If you view a
situation negatively, you will likely feel distressed—overwhelmed, oppressed, or
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out of control. Distress is the more familiar form of stress. The other form, eustress, results
from a “positive” view of an event or situation, which is why it is also called “good stress.”
Eustress helps you rise to a challenge and can be an antidote to boredom because it engages
focused energy. That energy can easily turn to distress, however, if something causes you to
view the situation as unmanageable or out of control. Many people regard public speaking or
airplane flights as very stressful—causing physical reactions such as an increased heart rate
and a loss of appetite—while others look forward to the event. It’s often a question of
perception: A positive stressor for one person can be a negative stressor for another.
Causes of
Stress
Environmental

An unemployment
A Work, including job uncertainty, unclear role definition, dangerous
occupations, shift work, pressure regarding performance ä School or
academic pressures
A Financial hardship
A Concerns about health care, access and affordability, and the reliability of
medical science, especially given the media prominence to litigation
A Weight of current affairs, such as major disasters, reported crime, war,
environmental degradation, corruption




Personal




Relationship difficulties including marital breakdown, resolution of custody
issues
A Childrearing, especially in the absence of extended support
A Coping with work, needs of partner and family
A Loss and grief associated with events such as the death or serious illness of a
loved one
Physical





A Insomnia
A Sweating, shaking, nervousness
A Headache
A Muscle tension, being jumpy and easily startled
A Poor appetite
Psychological



A Feeling overwhelmed
A Poor concentration
A Easily upset, irritable with friends and family
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
A Self-critical -“everything’s a mess”
Life events such as marriage, changing jobs, divorce, or the death of a relative or
friend are the most common causes of stress. Although life-threatening events are less
common, they can be the most physiologically and psychologically acute. They are
usually associated with public service career fields in which people experience intense
stress levels because of imminent danger and a high degree of uncertainty— police
officer, fire and rescue worker, emergency relief worker, and the military.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) notes some of the more common
stressors for college students:
• Increased academic demands
• Being on your own in a new environment
• Changes in family relations
• Financial responsibilities
• Changes in your social life
• Exposure to new people, ideas, and temptations
• Awareness of your sexual identity and orientation
• Preparing for life after graduation.
Even when you don’t realize it, stress can cause or contribute to serious
physical disorders. It increases hormones such as adrenaline and corticosterone, which
affect your metabolism, immune reactions, and other stress responses. That can lead
to increases in your heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and physical demands on
your internal organs. Behavioral changes are also expressions of stress. They can
include:
• Irritability
• Disruptive eating patterns (overeating or under eating)
• Harsh treatment of others
• Increased smoking or alcohol consumption
 Isolation
• Compulsive shopping.
A sustained high level of stress is no laughing matter. It can affect every area
of your life- productivity in the workplace and classroom, increased health risks, and
relationships, to name just a few.
Managing Stress
As noted in the Introduction, you can learn to manage stress. The first step is
understanding yourself better—how you react in different situations, what causes you
stress, and how you behave when you feel stressed. Once you’ve done that, take the
following steps:
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Set priorities.
Use the time-management tips you learned in Section 1.Make a To-Do list. Decide
what is really important to get done today, and what can wait. This helps you to know that
you are working on your most immediate priorities, and you don’t have the stress of trying to
remember what you should be doing.
Practice facing stressful moments.
Think about the event or situation you expect to face and rehearse your
reactions. Find ways to practice dealing with the challenge. If you know that speaking
in front of a group frightens you, practice doing it, perhaps with a trusted friend or
fellow student. If the pressure of taking tests causes you to freeze up, buy some
practice tests at the school bookstore or online and work with them when there are no
time pressures.
Examine your expectations.
Try to set realistic goals. It’s good to push yourself to achieve, but make sure
your expectations are realistic. Watch out for perfectionism. Be satisfied with doing
the best you can. Nobody’s perfect—not you, not your fellow Cadet, nobody. Allow
people the liberty to make mistakes, and remember that mistakes can be a good
teacher.
Live a healthy lifestyle.
Get plenty of exercise. Eat healthy foods. Allow time for rest and relaxation.
Find a relaxation technique that works for you-prayer, yoga, meditation, or breathing
exercises. Look for the humor in life, and enjoy yourself.
Learn to accept change as a part of life.
Nothing stays the same. Develop a support system of friends and relatives you
can talk to when needed. Believe in yourself and your potential. Remember that many
people from disadvantaged backgrounds have gone on to enjoy great success in life.
At the same time, avoid those activities that promise release from stress while actually
adding to it. Drinking alcohol (despite what all those TV commercials imply),
drinking caffeine, smoking, using narcotics (including marijuana), and overeating all
add to the body’s stress in addition to their other harmful effects. Here are some other
strategies for dealing with stress:
• Schedule time for vacation, breaks in your routine, hobbies, and fun activities.
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






Try to arrange for uninterrupted time to accomplish tasks that need your
concentration.
Arrange some leisure time during which you can do things that you
really enjoy.
Avoid scheduling too many appointments, meetings, and classes backto- back. Allow breaks to catch your breath. Take a few slow, deep
breaths whenever you feel stressed. Breathe from the abdomen and, as
you exhale, silently say to yourself, “I feel calm.”
Become an expert at managing your time. Read books, view videos, and
attend seminars on time management. Once you cut down on time
wasters, you’ll find more time to recharge yourself.
Learn to say “no.” Setting limits can minimize stress. Spend time on
your main responsibilities and priorities rather than allowing other
people’s priorities or needs to dictate how you spend your time.
Exercise regularly to reduce muscle tension and promote a sense of
well- being.
Tap into your support network. Family, friends, and social groups can
help when dealing with stressful events.
Depressio
n
Unfortunately, a person’s inability to deal with stress can often lead to
depression. People with depression have similar symptoms to stress, except the
symptoms are not Temporary-they can last for weeks at a time. Because of the
sustained symptoms, the effect on the body, mood, and behavior is often more serious
than with temporary stress. Depression can have severe effects on your eating habits,
your relationships, your ability to work and study, and how you think and feel. The
illness is not unique to a particular group of people or area of the country. It’s
important to understand that clinical depression is a real, not an “imaginary” illness.
It’s not a passing mood or a sign of personal weakness. It demands treatment—and 80
percent of those treated begin to feel better in just a few weeks.
The different types of depression also have different symptoms, including:
Major Depressive Disorder
Along with dysthymic disorder (see below), this is the most common form of
depression.6 Symptoms tend to reduce your ability to perform everyday activities, such
as working, sleeping, studying, eating, and most anything that once gave you pleasure.
This
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disabling condition may occur only once in your life, but more often recurs over your
lifetime.6
1. Dysthymic disorder
This condition, also referred to as dysthymia, tends to be less severe than
clinical depression, and may not interfere with your everyday life. It usually lasts for
two years or longer, and may lead to clinical depression.6
2. Postpartum depression
This form of depression is diagnosed in new mothers who develop a major
depressive episode within one month of delivering their baby.6
3. Psychotic depression
This is the diagnosis when severe clinical depression is accompanied by a
break with reality, hallucinations, delusions, or some other form of psychosis.6
4. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
A form of depression that usually eases during spring and summer months,
SAD is associated with the lower levels of natural sunlight that Canadians get during
the winter months.6
According to NIMH, the following symptoms are signs of major depression:
• Sadness, anxiety, or “empty” feelings
• Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down”
• Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities
• Sleep disturbances (insomnia, oversleeping, or waking much earlier
than
usual)
• Appetite and weight changes (either loss or gain)
• Feelings of hopelessness, guilt, and worthlessness
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
• Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or remembering
• Irritability or excessive crying
• Chronic aches and pains not explained by another physical condition.
Treatment
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, depression is the
most treatable of mental illnesses. Treatments generally depend on the type and
severity of depression you have. Most milder cases will be managed by a family
physician, who can treat you with medication, counselling, or a mix of both. More
severe cases can lead to a referral to a psychiatrist, who can then treat you as an
outpatient, or may even admit you to a hospital if necessary.1
The treatments most commonly used for clinical depression include
medications, psycho-education, psychotherapy, and sometimes electroconvulsive
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therapy is recommended. These treatments can be used alone or in combination.
Often, it is helpful for a person’s loved ones to learn about depression, which can be
done through reading, speaking with a mental health professional, or attending family
and caregiver support and education groups.1
Medications
Medications are used quite successfully to treat depression, often with
psychotherapy. Early intervention with medications can help prevent a severe
depression, and allow people to use talk therapy more efficiently. For severe
depressions, medications may help people get back to regular routines and activities
by restoring their moods to more normal levels.1
The different types of antidepressants are generally categorized by which
natural chemicals they affect in your brain to help change your mood. They can also
be broken down into categories of older and newer drugs.
Medications are often increased gradually to optimize their effects. The first
weeks may be more about managing any side effects rather than real symptom relief,
which can take a while to begin for some. But don’t be discouraged, the side effects
can be managed, on the way to realizing your symptom relief.
Psycho-education
This part of therapy focuses on helping patients and their family members and
partners learn about depression and its treatment, and even how to deal with any
concerns about the stigma of mental illness. For the patient, this process can provide
an opportunity to talk about feelings related to living and learning to cope with
depression. It can take place in groups or in one-on-one counselling with a healthcare
professional.
For family or partners, psycho-education is meant to shed some light on what
the affected person is going through. Ways to help the patient are discussed, as well as
the limitations to any help that can be offered by loved ones. Family and friends can
meet directly with the healthcare providers of their loved one, or go to family support
and education groups.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a term used to describe treatment that involves talking
through issues with a psychotherapist. This form of therapy is meant to relieve
distress by allowing patients to talk about and express feelings, by helping to change
attitudes, behaviour and habits that may be contributing to depression, and
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by exploring more helpful or adaptive ways of coping. It is often used along with
medication in the treatment of depression.
Many different healthcare professionals are trained in the various models of
psychotherapy, including doctors, social workers, psychologists and other mental
health professionals. Whether administered in a hospital, clinic, or private practice,
psychotherapy is built upon a trusting, supportive and comfortable relationship
between patient and therapist.
Common types of psychotherapy include:
Short-term therapy
It usually lasts up to 16 weeks, and focuses on current events, not past ones.
May involve interpersonal therapy to examine the role of relationships to the disorder,
or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to explore how negative thoughts and
interpretations of events may be contributing to depression1
Long-term therapy,
It may last for a year or more, and is more broad in focus. Often explores
relationship of childhood events and current triggers to depression.
Group therapy,
It usually involves 8 to 12 patients led by one or two mental health professionals
who guide the process and provide structure and direction when needed1
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
Also known as shock therapy, electroconvulsive therapy has been around for
years, and misunderstood for almost all that time. This is due in part to the rather
crude procedure practiced in its early years, which led to short- and long- term
memory loss. Fortunately, most patients recovered from these effects after about six
months.
Interestingly, ECT remains the most effective treatment for clinical depression. It is
often used as a last resort, however, as it still arouses fear in people, and remains
shrouded in misconceptions. Less intrusive therapies, such as medication, are usually
tried first before turning to ECT.
Other therapies
Light therapy.
For people with SAD, spending 30 minutes daily under specially designed light
boxes can provide relief for 2 in 3 patients1
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Herbal remedies.
Limited research has been done in this field, though people still turn to
formulations of herbs like St. John’s Wort for relief of mild depression. The very real
concerns for patients wanting to use these types of alternative therapies is the
inconsistency of their manufacturing, and the possibility that they may interact with
their other medications1
• Relaxation and stress management techniques may be of some benefit to
patients.
• Massage and acupuncture are also helpful to some in dealing with certain
symptoms of depression.
Management of Depression
The following are some tips to help aid in recovery from depression, and to
reduce your chances of a relapse:
• Learn about the illness and its treatment.
• Monitor changes in your mood, either with a journal or list of warning signs, and
make note of activities that positively impact your outlook.
• Follow your treatment plan carefully, including taking any and all medications as
prescribed.
• Develop a healthy lifestyle, including proper nutrition, exercise and good sleep habits.
• Adopt new strategies to cope with stress.
• Nurture meaningful relationships and social support.
• Strike a balance between work, family, friends and leisure.
• Avoid alcohol and illegal drugs.
Humanistic Theory
The humanistic approach to psychology was developed by Carl Rogers and
Abraham Maslow in the United States during the 1950s. Humanistic psychology is
concerned with topics that are meaningful to human beings, focusing especially upon
subjective experience and the unique, unpredictable events in individual human lives.
Humanistic psychology has forced many psychologists to question some of their basic
beliefs. Humanistic psychologists differ from most other psychologists in focusing on
conscious experience rather than on behaviour, on personal responsibility and fee will
rather than on determinism, and of discussion of experience rather than on use of the
experimental method. Humanistic psychology also emphasise the importance of the
individual’s striving towards
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personal growth and fulfilment. Whether or not these views are valid, they have
certainly succeeded in offering an alternative point of view.
Humanistic psychology was developed primarily by Carl Rogers and Abraham
Maslow and came into prominence in the 1950s and 60s. In many ways, it applied the
philosophical ideas of existentialism to psychology.
According to Cartwright (1979), humanistic psychology “is concerned
with topics that are meaningful to human beings, focusing especially upon
subjective experience and the unique, unpredictable events in individual
human lives”. More specifically, humanistic psychologists argue that
psychology should be based on phenomenolology.
Maslow’s key concepts: self-actualisation and peak experiences
According to Maslow (1954), self-actualisation can be described in the
following way:”A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must
write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he
must be. This need we may call self-actualisation”.
Self-actualised people are characterised by an acceptance of themselves, spontaneity,
the need for privacy, resistance to cultural influences, empathy, profound
interpersonal relations, a democratic character structure, creativeness, and a
philosophical sense of humour. According to Maslow, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor
Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein were identified as self-actualisers. In his book based
on the lives of famous people, who were self-actualisers according to Maslow, he
used the biographical method (archival research) to study the lives of several
individuals and found similarities in their lives that he called ‘self- actualising
tendency’ and on the basis of this work, he identified 15 characteristics of selfactualised people: accurate perception of reality, enjoyment of new experiences,
tendency to have peak experiences, clear moral standards, sense of humour, feeling of
kinship with all people, close friendships, democratic character accepting others, need
for privacy, independence from culture and environment, creativity, spontaneity,
problem-centred rather than self-centred, acceptance of human nature, resistance to
conformity. It is not necessary to display all these characteristics in order to be selfactualised, and not only self-actualised people display them. However, Maslow
considered that those individuals that he had identified as self-actualised people
displayed these characteristics more. Self- actualisers are people who fulfil their own
potential, not perfect human beings.
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Maslow and the basic nature of human beings:
Humans are innately good and our innate tendencies are predominantly
healthy and benign. People have an innate capacity for constructive growth, honesty,
generosity and love. However, these instincts are weak and could easily be
overwhelmed by the more powerful forces of learning and culture (and here he agrees
with Erikson). The result is that a pathogenic environment can inhibit our positive
potentials and evoke hatred, destructiveness, and self-defeating behaviour. Maslow
prefers an eclectic approach to personality, and he advices psychologists to guard
against excessive optimism by acquiring knowledge of Freudian psychoanalysis: My
goal] is to integrate into a single theoretical structure the partial truth in Freud, Adler,
Jung ... Freud is still required reading for the humanistic psychologist. [yet] it is as if
[he] supplied to us the sick half of psychology, and we must now fill out with the
healthy half (Maslow, 1968).
Cognitive therapy (CT)
Cognitive therapy (CT) is a type of psychotherapy developed by American
psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck. CT is one of the therapeutic approaches within the larger
group of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) and was first expounded by Beck in
the 1960s. In the 1950s scientific interest returned to attention, memory, images,
language processing, thinking and consciousness. The “failure” of Behaviourism
heralded a new period in the investigation of cognition, known as the Cognitive
Revolution. This was characterized by a revival of already existing theories and the
rise of new ideas such as various communication theories. These theories emerged
mainly from the previously created information theory, giving rise to experiments in
signal detection and attention in order to form a theoretical and practical
understanding of communication.
Cognitive therapy seeks to help the patient overcome difficulties by
identifying and changing dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and emotional responses.
This involves helping patients develop skills for modifying beliefs, identifying
distorted thinking, relating to others in different ways, and changing behaviors. CT is
a psychotherapy quite distinct from other mainstream forms such as psychoanalytic or
behavioral psychotherapy: rather than focusing on motivations or instincts, it is based
on an information-processing model of human behavior and psychopathology.
Common features of cognitive therapies include:
1. A collaborative relationship between therapist and patient
2. An emphasis on disturbances in cognitive processes as the key factor
in psychological distress
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3. A belief that one’s own cognitive activity can be accessed, monitored
and reported
4. A belief that cognition affects behavior, and that behavior can be
therapeutically changed through efforts to change cognition
5. A time-limited, problem focused, psycho-educationally based format
that is adapted according to the specifics of distinct disorders (Dobson &
Block, 1988).
Beck initially focused on depression and developed a list of "errors" in
thinking that he proposed could maintain depression. These cognitive
distortions, or exaggerated and irrational thoughts, were believed to
perpetuate psychological disorders, and included such distortions as arbitrary
inference, selective abstraction, over-generalization, magnification (of
negative thoughts or ideas) and minimization (of positive thoughts or ideas).
Over the years, this list has been expanded by David Burns in 1989 to include
all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, should
statements, and personalization, among others. Rumination is another
maladaptive cognitive process in which a person responds to stress by
repetitively and passively focusing on the element of distress, its symptoms,
its possible causes and/or its consequences.
According to Beck’s theory of the etiology of depression, depressed people
acquire a negative schema of the world in childhood and adolescence through events
such as a loss of a parent, rejection by peers, criticism from teachers or parents, or the
depressive attitude of a parent. When the person with such schemas encounters a
situation that resembles in some way, even remotely, the conditions in which the
original schema was learned, the negative schemas of the person are activated. Beck
also included a negative triad in his theory. A negative triad is made up of the
negative schemas and cognitive biases of the person. A cognitive bias is a view of the
world. Depressed people, according to this theory, have views such as “I never do a
good job.” A negative schema helps give rise to the cognitive bias, and the cognitive
bias helps fuel the negative schema. This is the negative triad.
The process of Beck’s cognitive therapy can be viewed in hierarchical terms.
First, therapy sessions initially focus on the observable behaviors and symptoms that
brought the client to treatment. Later sessions then examine the client’ sautomatic
thoughts, or thoughts that are conscious or pre-conscious and tend to be "thought"
rather automatically and unintentionally, and the cognitive processes underlying these
automatic thoughts. Finally therapeutic work will focus
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on identifying and restructuring the core belief systems that shape the client's
worldview. Therapy may consist of testing a client's assumptions and identifying how
client's unquestioned thoughts are distorted, unrealistic and unhelpful. Once these
thoughts have been challenged, the client's feelings about the subject matter of those
thoughts can be more readily changed.
Eliminating negative thoughts and distortions is believed to improve mood and
relieve psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. The process of
learning to refute these distortions is called cognitive restructuring. Treatment is
based on collaboration between patient and therapist, with the aims of changing the
client’s habitual ways of processing types of information, reducing the client’s general
bias towards particular thoughts and interpretations, and reevaluating the client’s core
beliefs regarding the self, the future, and the world.
Aaron T. Beck, an American psychiatrist and professor, is widely regarded as
the father of cognitive therapy, and his pioneering theories are widely used in the
treatment of clinical depression. Beck developed cognitive therapy in the early 1960s
as a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania. He had previously studied and
practiced psychoanalysis. A researcher and scientist at heart, Beck designed and
carried out a number of experiments to test psychoanalytic concepts of depression.
Fully expecting research would validate these fundamental precepts (such as
retroflected hostility, need to suffer, and seeking of failure), he was surprised to find
the opposite. This research led him to begin to look for other ways of conceptualizing
depression.
Theory
Beck noticed through his analysis of his patient's dreams that there were
consistent themes of loss, rejection, and abandonment, and that these negative themes
permeated the client's everyday thoughts as well. Working with depressed patients, he
found that they experienced streams of negative thoughts that seemed to pop up
spontaneously. He termed these cognitions “automatic thoughts,” and discovered that
their content fell into three categories: negative ideas about themselves, the world and
the future. Beck explains people accept these thoughts as valid and don't take time to
reflect. Beck began to view depressed patients as suffering from negative automatic
thoughts that distorted their views of themselves and reality (Figure 0).
Beck theorized that different disorders are associated with different types of
distorted thinking; however distorted thinking has a negative effect on our behavior
no matter what type of disorder. Frequent negative automatic thoughts
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reveal a person's core beliefs or schemas, which he believes are formed over lifelong
experiences; we “feel” these beliefs to be true.
Beck also included a negative triad in his theory, which is made up of the negative
schemas and cognitive biases of the person. Depressed people, according to this theory, have
views such as “I never do a good job.” A negative schema helps give rise to the cognitive
bias, and the cognitive bias helps fuel the negative schema, creating a negative triad.
Cognitive biases can include arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, overgeneralization,
magnification and minimization. These cognitive biases are quick to make negative,
generalized and personal inferences of the self, thus fueling the negative schema.
Treatment
Beck began helping patients identify and evaluate these thoughts and found that by
doing so, patients were able to think more realistically, which led them to feel better
emotionally and behave more functionally. Successful interventions educate a person to
understand and become aware of their distorted thinking and how to challenge its effects. In
his work he seeks to help clients change their negative feelings about themselves and their
futures through such techniques as gentle questioning, positive self-talk, and stress
inoculation training (helping people to think positively even in the face of stress). His
cognitive therapy explicitly involves the patient in collaboration with the therapist and makes
the patient his or her own authority.
His cognitive therapy for depression focuses on helping patients to find more rational
ways of viewing their lives and not jumping to the worst possible outcome about themselves,
others, or their futures (catastrophizing). Eliminating cognitive distortions and negative
thoughts is said to improve mood and discourage maladies such as depression and chronic
anxiety. The process of learning to refute these distortions is called "cognitive restructuring."
Positive self-talk helps to counteract negative self- defeating thoughts and other negative
thoughts that help sustain a depressed state.
Beck developed several self-report measures of depression and anxiety, including
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Scale for Suicidal
Ideation (BSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Youth Inventories.
Behavioral Therapy
Behavior therapy is an approach to psychotherapy that aims to reinforce desired
behaviors, while eliminating undesired behaviors.The therapeutic techniques used in
behavioral therapy are based on the principles of operant conditioning developed by B.F.
Skinner.
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1. Behavior therapy is seen as having three distinct points of origin: South
Africa (Wolpe's), The United States (Skinner), and the United Kingdom
(Rachman and Eysenck).
2. Behavior therapy focuses on behaviors, not the thoughts and feelings that
might be causing them; it is not concerned with the psychoanalytic state of
the subject.
3. Behavior therapies are based upon the premises of operant and respondent
conditioning.
4. Systematic desensitization and exposure therapy are two common
techniques used in behavior therapy.
5. In the second half of the 20th century, many therapists coupled behavior
therapy with the cognitive therapy of Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, to form
cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
6. Third Generation Behavior Therapies later moved away from cognitivism
and back toward various forms of behaviorism, and include such therapies
as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioral
Therapy (DBT).
7. Operant Conditioning developed by B.F. Skinner, utilizes positive and
negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment to alter
behavior.
8. Classical conditioning; it is a form of learning in which one stimulus (the
conditioned stimulus or CS) comes to signal the occurrence of a second
stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus or US). The US is usually a
biologically significant stimulus, such as food or pain which elicits a
response from the start; this is called the unconditioned response or UR.
The CS usually produces no particular response at first but after
conditioning, it elicits the conditioned response or CR. It was originally
thought that the conditioned stimulus would become associated with, and
eventually elicits, the unconditioned response.
9. A learning theory is a conceptual framework that describes how information
is absorbed, processed, and retained during learning. Behaviorism,
cognitivism, and constructivism are the three main categories of learning
theory.
EXAMPLES
An example of positive reinforcement is when a father gives candy to his
daughter when she picks up her toys. If the frequency of picking up the toys increases
or stays the same, the candy is a positive reinforcer.
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Behavioral therapy, also known as behavior modification, is an approach to
psychotherapy based on the learning theory. Behavioral therapy aims to treat
psychopathology through techniques designed to reinforce desired behaviors, while
eliminating undesired behaviors. In its broadest sense the methods focus on behaviors,
not the thoughts and feelings that might be causing them; it is not concerned with the
psychoanalytic state of the subject.
Edward Thorndike first used the term "behavior modification" in 1911, and in his
article Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning he makes frequent use of
the term "modifying behavior". The first occurrence of the term "behavior therapy"
was most likely in a 1953 research project by B.F. Skinner Figure 0, Ogden Lindsley,
Nathan H. Azrin, and Harry C. Solomon. Other early pioneers in behavior therapy
include Joseph Wolpe and Hans Eysenck. In general, behavior therapy is seen as
having three distinct points of origin: South Africa (Wolpe's group), The United
States (Skinner), and the United Kingdom (Rachman and Eysenck). By nature,
behavioral therapies are:





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empirical (driven by data)
contextual (focused on the environment and context)
functional (interested in the ultimate effect or consequence of a behavior)
probabilistic (viewing behavior as statistically predictable)
monistic (treating the person as a whole, rather than seeing the mind and
body as separate)
relational (analyzing bidirectional interactions)
Behavior therapy breaks down into two disciplines: a more narrowly defined
sense of behavior therapy and behavior modification. However these distinctions are
not absolute, and some crossover occurs in practice. Behavior therapy generally treats
psychopathology with respondent conditioning (also known as classical conditioning,
developed by Pavlov), while behavior modification makes use of operant conditioning
(developed by B.F. Skinner). Systematic desensitization is a kind of behavior therapy
in which a client is taught relaxation skills and then gradually learns to use them to
react toward and overcome situations in an established hierarchy of fears. Similarly,
exposure therapy involves the exposure to the feared object or context without any
danger in order to help clients overcome their anxiety. A closely related therapy used
widely in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder is exposure and response
prevention.
Behavior therapy can be used in couples relationships, chronic pain, stressrelated behavior problems, anorexia, chronic distress, substance abuse, depression,
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anxiety, and obesity. While many behavior therapists remain staunchly committed to
the basic approaches of operant and respondent conditioning, in the second half of the
20th century, many therapists coupled behavior therapy with the cognitive therapy of
Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, to form cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In some
areas the cognitive component was helpful, but in other areas it did not enhance the
treatment, which led to the pursuit of Third Generation Behavior Therapies. This
movement has been called clinical behavior analysis because it represents a
movement away from cognitivism and back toward radical behaviorism and other
forms of behaviorism, such as functional analysis. This area includes Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of
Psychotherapy (CBASP), behavioral activation (BA), Kohlenberg and Tsai's
Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, integrative behavioral couples therapy, and
dialectical behavioral therapy.
Humanistic theory of Motivation
According to Maslow human behavior is motivated by a set of basic needs.
Which needs are most active in driving behavior depends on two principles: (1) a
need which is satisfied is no longer active: the higher the satisfaction, the less the
activity (the exception to this rule is the need for self-actualization; (2) needs can be
ordered in a hierarchy, such that from all the non-satisfied needs, the one which is
lowest in the hierarchy will be the most active. A lower need is more "urgent" in the
sense that it must be satisfied before a higher need can take over control.
1. Physiological Need:
The lowest level of needs may be called physiological needs. These are needs
of the body as a physiological system which tries to maintain homeostasis. They
consist of the need to breath, air, hunger, thirst, avoidance of extreme heat and cold,
etc. These needs are such that if they are not satisfied the organism dies. If the threat
of dying because of perturbation of the physiological equilibrium has vanished, the
organism can direct its attention to more indirect threats, such as the danger of being
caught by a predator, and try to avoid them. This corresponds to the second need
level:
2. Safety Needs
The safety needs operate mainly on a psychological level. Naturally we try to
avoid a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. But once we’ve managed a certain level of
physical comfort, we’ll seek to establish stability and consistency in a chaotic world.
When he talked about security, Maslow pictured the child who
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strives for predictability and certainty. For instance, most kids enjoy a set bedtime
routine and grow visibly distressed if a parent tries to short-circuit the ritual. Their
safety needs require a consistent and secure world that offers few surprises.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t always cooperate. Some of you who come from a broken
or dysfunctional home know the cringing fear of waiting for the next fight or the other
shoe to fall. Many adults go through life stuck on this level and act as if catastrophe
will happen any moment. Political appeals for law and order are aimed at people
whose insecurities have never been quieted. Maslow also placed religious inclination
on the safety rung because he saw that tendency as an attempt to bring about an
ordered universe with no nasty shocks.
3. Love and Belongingness Needs
The love or belongingness needs come into play after the physiological and
security drives are satisfied. Gratification is a matter of degree rather than an either-or
accomplishment. But once a need has been significantly satisfied over a long period
of time, it becomes functionally absent. The action switches to the next highest level,
in this case, love.
4. Self-Esteem
The esteem needs are of two types. There’s self-esteem, which is the result of
competence or mastery of tasks. Maslow, believes that repeated shifts in motivation
are possible when a person is in a supportive environment. Maslow notes that it’s
easier to make sacrifices when you’re never faced chronic deprivation. There are few
martyrs from the ranks of those who have to struggle for existence.
5. Self-Actualisation:
Maslow described the need for self-actualization as “the desire to become
more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming”
People feel this gentle but persistent tug to maximize their potential only after they
have satisfied their basic deficiency cravings. For instance, the aesthetic person
operating on this level may feel physically ill when driving past an ugly array of fastfood restaurants with garish neon signs. But the need for beauty is neither higher nor
lower than the other needs at the top of the pyramid. Self-actualization needs aren’t
hierarchically ordered. You’ll recall that Maslow set out to study fully functioning
people who had grown past the discontent and restlessness that characterize the lower
order needs of the hierarchy. He found
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very few. People who fit his criteria turned out to be mature in years as well as in the
process of living. Each was dedicated to a task or calling which would benefit others.
Since they weren’t people who need people, they were free to pursue a cause or
vocation. Most of us have trouble imagining ourselves on this transcendent plane, so
Maslow developed a device that would give the uninitiated a glimpse of the selfactualized life. He asked people to describe the single most joyous, happy, or blissful
moment of their life. Perhaps you’d recount a religious experience, a moment of
sexual ecstasy, or a time when a piece of music took you to the heights. This peak
experience would provide a taste of the fulfillment available to those who get beyond
the deficiency needs. Maslow’s vision of self- actualization as the highest human
attainment became a rallying point for Carl Rogers, Rollo May, Erich Fromm, and
other humanistic psychologists. If not the founder of the human potential movement,
Maslow certainly is a father figure to those who are part of the if-it feels- good-do-it
tradition. It’s hard to imagine hordes of people lined up to hug Leo Buscaglia had not
Maslow paved the way.
Evaluation of Maslow’s theory
The greatest strength of Maslow’s approach to motivation is that it is very
comprehensive and intuitively appealing. More specifically, the needs for selfactualisation and for esteem seem important and they were not included in earlier
theories. However, the notion of self-actualisation is vague, and it has proved hard to
develop good ways to measure it. Maslow has been criticized for an overly optimistic
view of human nature, e.g. that everybody has the potential to become a selfactualizer. The notion that self-actualised people are creative, self-accepting, and have
excellent interpersonal relations ignores the fact that many people possess only some
of those characteristics. The hierarchy of needs assumes that self-actualisation is at
the top, but for some individuals this is not the case. It is also not the case in all
cultures. Not all societies see self-centred goals as the ultimate human behaviour, for
example collectivistic cultures strive for the greater good of the community rather
than focusing on individual achievement.
Humanistic psychologists argue that self-actualisation occurs mainly because
of needs within the individual rather than because of the beneficial impact of the
environment. However, the environment often helps the process of self- actualisation.
For example, most Western societies provide their citizens with many years of
schooling, training opportunities for those with special skills, part- time courses, and
so on. It is probable that self-actualisation depends on external (environmental) as
well as internal (need) factors. Even though Maslow has been
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criticised for being overly optimistic on behalf of humanity, his greater acceptance of
Freudian principles renders him less vulnerable to this charge than Rogers. However,
Maslow’s eclecticism does not seem sufficiently well thought out. For example, he
fails to reconcile his professed holism with his acceptance of such processes as
repression and reaction formation, constructs that necessarily imply that personality
includes sufficient subparts to become a house divided.
Similarly, he casually endorses Horney’s construct of an idealised image
without considering the discrepancies between her inner conflict model and his
holistic approach. Eclecticism requires more than merely accepting under one
theoretical roof all those constructs of other theorists that one likes. The various ideas
must also be integrated into a meaningful and non-contradictory whole, and this
Maslow has not done. Although Maslow’s ideas are intuitively appealing and
although they have been successfully used in a number of situations, some serious
criticism of his work has been raised apart from the contradictions in his theoretical
work. One criticism raised is that Maslow’s research into self- actualised people was
not carried out scientifically and the only criterion for identifying a self-actualised
person was Maslow’s own opinion. Maslow has also, like Rogers, been accused of
false optimism about human nature and largely ignoring the more negative aspects of
human experience.
HISTORY
Psychologists in the United States virtually ignored psychoanalysis from the
1890s to the 1920s and then vigorously opposed it from the 1920s until about the
1950s. By the middle of the twentieth century, psychologists were subjecting
psychoanalytic concepts to rigorous experimental tests (Shakow & Rapaport, 1964),
and subsequently many of the psychoanalytic principles were incorporated into
mainstream psychology. By the 1990s, psychoanalytic theory was considered a
cornerstone of modern counseling and psychotherapy. Of the several hundred
therapies in use from the 1970s to the 1990s, most derived some fundamental
formulation, technique, or impetus from the psychoanalytic system. Let's begin with a
brief overview of psychoanalytic theory from its founder, Sigmund Freud, to current
practitioners.
Freud was born in Freiberg, Czechoslovakia, in 1856, and died in London in
1939. He grew up in a time of great scientific progress, which influenced the
development of his psychological theories. For example, one of the most important
scientific works of that time was the Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin.
Darwin's idea that a human was an animal among other animals and thus
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could be studied naturalistically was a foundation for Freud's study of the workings of
the human mind. A second major influence came from the field of physics. Hermann
von Helmholtz proposed that a human was an energy system that obeys the same
physical laws as other matter. This conception of people led to Freud's idea that
human motivation was influenced by unconscious sources of energy.
At seventeen Freud entered medical school, where he was strongly influenced
by Ernst Brucke, a prominent physiologist. Brucke's influence ultimately led Freud to
create a dynamic psychology involving transformations and exchanges of energy
within the personality. After medical school Freud studied the nervous system and
earned a reputation as a promising young neurologist. He began to specialize in the
treatment of nervous disorders. He first studied in France with Jean Charcot, who
used hypnosis to treat hysteria and other disorders. Hypnosis became a key
component of Freud's practice as well. He then studied with Joseph Breuer, who had
developed a cathartic method of therapy to treat.
While scientifically exploring underlying causes of behavior, Freud
formulated the idea of unconscious forces. In the 1890s he began analyzing his own
unconscious forces, and during this time he wrote the Interpretation of Dreams. This
work contained his views on the dynamics of the mind as well. In 1901 he published
the Psychopathology of Everyday Life, which proposed that slips of the tongue,
errors, accidents, and faulty memory are the results of unconscious motives. In 1905
he published three other important works: A Case of Hysteria, which described the
treatment of hysterical disorders; Three Essays on Sexuality, which showed how
sexual conflicts can produce neurosis; and Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious,
which proposed that much humor was a covert form of communicating hostility.
All of these works led to the psychoanalytic system of psychology. However,
it was not Freud or his writings alone that made the psychoanalytic system so
powerful and widespread. Equally important were the men who gravitated to him in
what came to be known as the Vienna circle. Otto Rank, Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, Karl
Abraham, Max Eitingon, Sandor Ferenczi, Hans Sachs, and Ernest Jones all started
out as confederates and disciples of Freud but later developed, extended, and
reformulated his theories, often in bitter disagreement with their mentor. In particular,
Jung and Adler moved away from the “pure” psychoanalytics of Freud and developed
their own theories and following. In 1909 Freud was invited to America by G. Stanley
Hall to speak at
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Clark University. Following this initial visit, prominent psychologists in America
such as Hall and William James became receptive to the components of
psychoanalytics. While Freud's ideas were taking root, he continued to refine the
psychoanalytic system, and from 1914 until his death in 1939 he extended his ideas
into an ego psychology through which he attempted to understand the total
personality. The Nazi rise to power prompted numerous adherents of Freud to leave
continental Europe for America in the 1930s. America thereon became the world
center for psychoanalysis. From the 1930s to the 1950s, theorists and therapists such
as Karen Horney, Erik Erikson, Harry Stack Sullivan, and Erich Fromm broadened
basic Freudian psychoanalytics. These theorists, characterized as Neo-Freudians,
included cultural and social determiners and the development of interpersonal
relationships as necessary extensions of the psychoanalytic view. A number of
contemporary psychoanalytically oriented therapists have developed innovations to
Freudian and Neo-Freudian formulations. Some of these newer approaches to
psychoanalytic therapy are described in the section on strategies for helping clients.
OVERVIEW OF FREUDIAN PSYCHOANALYTIC THERAPY
Freudian psychology has been tagged with several names: psychoanalysis,
psychoanalytic theory, psychodynamic theory, psychodynamic therapy,
psychodynamics, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, dynamic psychiatry, dynamic
psychology, and depth psychology. By whatever name, it is a psychology of the
conflicting forces inherent in the dualistic nature of humankind. The conflicting
dualism of the mind may be dichotomized into conscious and unconscious. The
dualism of humans in society may be dichotomized into the person as a biological
animal and the person as a social being. It is through conflicts between the conscious
and the unconscious and between the biological motivating forces in people and the
social tempering forces in the environment that the personality develops, acculturation
occurs, and values are acquired. Freud described this human motivation as being
governed by the tendency to seek pleasure (a biological drive) and to avoid pain. He
called this tension-reducing force the pleasure principle Freud's conception of the
development of neurosis grew from his studies of hysteria and hypnosis. In these
studies he found that certain unacceptable events and thoughts people had consciously
experienced were sometimes repressed into an area of the mind he called the
unconscious. These experiences, which were of a sexual nature directly influenced the
person's behavior and caused hysterical symptoms. These ideas were the basis of
Freud's
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theory of the development of neurosis (Fancher, 1973). Thus, the hysterical neurotic
became the accepted prototype for the early Freudians' understanding, diagnosis, and
treatment of maladjusted patients. The methods of psychoanalysis grew from the early
studies of hysteria and hypnosis. Hypnosis was found to be useful for relieving
hysterical symptoms in some cases, but not all of Freud's clients responded equally
well to this method. Freud thereupon began to use an open-ended, gently guided
discovery technique to bring to light childhood sexual fantasies. This technique
evolved into the free association method, one of the cornerstones of classic
psychoanalysis. The primary goal of this method is to make unconscious material
conscious and thereby promote insight and understanding. Interpretation is then
applied to the unconscious material, as it is applied to dreams, facilitating the client's
understanding of the influence of unconscious motives on present behavior. Finally,
the client uses transference, an emotional response to the therapist that represents a
repetition of the individual's fantasies about a past relationship (such as with a parent),
to gain insight and eventually to resolve the neurotic conflict Rapport (1967),
identified seven postulates or assumptions that have driven psychoanalytic therapy
from the middle of the twentieth century to the 1990s:
1. Access to unconscious functioning comes through the associative
process.
2. Later mental structures have to be explained by earlier experiences,
by turning back to the past.
3. Psychic continuity is a lifelong process.
4. Mental life has meaning.
5. Determinism, the conviction that nothing that happens is accidental, is
an accepted principle.
6. Instinct, that is, as the source of motivation in bodily processes, is an
accepted concept.
7. The assumption of the concept of the unconscious is necessary
because conscious experiences leave gaps in mental life that
unconscious processes bridge. Auld and Hyman hold that postulate one
(which they added to the other six assumptions developed by Rapport),
is the guiding rationale for psychoanalytic technique. Thus, their view of
psychoanalytic therapy is built on the premise that insofar as the
psychodynamics of the patient “can be elucidated by pursuing his or her
associations, the therapist and the patient, working together, can
understand the patient and have a constructive effect on the patient’s
life.”
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Therapists use all of the powerful tools that the psychoanalytic system has to
offer. But in modern practice therapists do not simply instruct clients to talk at length
about their childhood experiences and fantasies. Rather, psychoanalytic therapists are
committed to discovering what clients are experiencing and discovering in the
moment---collaboratively with their therapists in the therapy room. Auld and Hyman
(1991, p. 6) contend that “more than any other kind of therapy, psychoanalytic
therapy deals with the here-and now.” According to Arlow (1989, 1995), effective
psychoanalytic treatment can best be understood by examining empathy, intuition, and
introspection. Arlow explains that empathy is a form of “emotional knowing,” central
to the psychotherapeutic process, whereby a therapist exercises the ability to identify
with and share the client's experiences both affectively and cognitively. He describes
intuition as the organization, in the therapist's mind, of the myriad of data
communicated by the client “into meaningful configurations outside the scope of
consciousness” of the therapist, yet made conscious through unconscious mental
operations. The therapist becomes aware of such unconscious material through
introspection, a process using mental free association, whereby the therapist
consciously synthesizes the client's accumulated communications. These
introspections are not communicated to the client but rather are used to understand
and help the client finally to attain the insight and ego strength needed to cope with
whatever emotional traumas or dilemmas brought him or her to therapy in the first
place. The communication of empathy directly to the client has been recognized and
recommended by many modern psychoanalysts as a prerequisite to effective
psychotherapy
THEORY OF PERSONALITY
According to Arlow (1995), personality “evolves out of the interaction
between inherent biological factors and the vicissitudes of experience.”
Psychoanalytic personality theory is based on several fundamental principles. Freud
proposed that the personality consists of three major parts---the id, the ego, and the
superego (Hall, 1954).
THE ID
The id exists at birth and is the source of psychic energy and the instincts, the
most important of which are sex and aggression. Energy in the id is mobile and can be
readily discharged through action and wish fulfillment. One function of the id is to
fulfill the pleasure principle, which, as we have seen, is a basic motivating force that
serves to reduce tension by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. The id is
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the newborn's reservoir of emotional energy. A basic function of the id is to maintain
the organism in a state of tension-free comfort. When the infant is hungry, the id
seeks immediate gratification to restore the infant to a state of comfort. Frustration
occurs when the infant's oral erotic wishes are not immediately satisfied. The
experience of overcoming early frustration initiates learning and development. The
sucking instinct serves some important purposes. It satisfies the oral erotic need for
stimulation and satisfaction. Because of this a cathexis-the concentration of one's
psychic energy on some person, thing, idea, or aspect of self-develops between the
infant's need for protection and satisfaction and the mother, the mother's breasts, or
the bottle. The infant's early experience of locking the mouth onto the nipple may
serve as the first “click” of insight and thereby the root of all later learning. Thus the
id is the energizer and the starting point of the organism's personality.
THE EGO
The ego is a complex psychological organization that acts as an intermediary
between the id and the external world. It has both defensive and autonomous
functions. It is not present at birth but is developed as the person interacts with the
environment. To function as this intermediary, the ego operates by the reality
principle. The reality principle postpones the discharge of energy until an object that
will satisfy the need, or reduce tension, is found. Unlike the id, the ego is able to
tolerate tension and thus delay gratification. The reality principle is served by the
secondary process, which consists of discovering or producing reality through a plan
developed by thought and reason. The secondary process interacts with the
environment and develops the ego. These lines of development are also influenced by
heredity and maturational processes. The ego has been called the executive of the
personality because it controls and governs the id and the superego and maintains
interaction with the external world.
THE SUPEREGO
The superego is the moral, social, and judicial branch of the personality; it
represents the ideal rather than the real. The superego strives for perfection rather than
pleasure or reality. It develops as a result of the need to control the aggression that
results when needs are not immediately satisfied. The superego develops from the ego
by assimilating parental standards and eventually substitutes parental authority with
its own inner authority. It takes over the governance of the psyche and mediates
between the person and the environment. It acts as the moral and
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social gatekeeper and keeps the person’s baser instincts from running rampant. The
superego has two subsystems- the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego ideal is
composed of the child's conceptions of what the parents consider to be perfection, or
the perfect person. These conceptions are established through experiencing parental
acceptance. The conscience is composed of the child's conceptions of what is
considered to be morally bad and is established through experiencing admonitions,
punishment, or lack of acceptance.
In summary, the id is the reservoir of the psychic energy that operates the three
systems of personality. Since the id can receive gratification only through reflex and
wish fulfillment, the ego rationally satisfies the impulses of the id by selecting objects
in the environment that will reduce tension and bring pleasure. The ego eventually
obtains control of most of the id’s psychic energy. The superego serves as the moral
arm of this personality structure, using the prohibitions of conscience to block
discharge of energy or directing the discharge of energy through the ego ideal. A
person who is dominated by the id will tend to be impulsive; one who is dominated by
the superego will be overly moralistic and perfectionist. The ego functions to keep the
individual from these two extremes. Where the ego is working well, the personality is
a unified blend of the three systems
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY
Childhood sexuality plays an important role in the development of the
personality. The infant is capable of receiving sexual gratification from rhythmic
stimulation of any part of the body; Freud termed this polymorphous perversity. As
the infant matures, the generalized ability to receive sexual gratification decreases as
certain parts of the body become preferred sites for gratification. In other words, the
possibilities for gratification of the sexual instinct narrow as the infant develops.
Freud postulated a series of developmental stages that describe this narrowing process
of sexual gratification. These stages, now referred to as the stages of psychosexual
development, are as follows.
ORAL STAGE
This stage occurs during the first year of life and develops from the act of
feeding in which the mouth and lips naturally come to receive more stimulation than
other parts of the body. Because oral responses had been demonstrated to have strong
sexual connotations in perversions, neuroses, and latent dream
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content, Freud thought that the nonnutritive components of an infant's oral behavior
were sexual. Conscious and unconscious memories of oral experiences have a central
position in the psychological life of the infant, and new experiences are organized
around these memories Freud proposed that the mouth has five functions: (1)taking
in, (2) holding on, (3)biting, (4) spitting out, and (5) closing. Each is a prototype for
certain personality traits. These functions take on symbolic meaning in the adaptations
the individual makes in coping with the anxieties and stresses of life. For example,
taking in through the mouth is the prototype for acquisitiveness, holding for tenacity,
and spitting out for rejection. Whether these traits become part of one's personality
depends on the amount of anxiety and frustration experienced in the oral stage. For
example, an infant who was weaned too soon or too abruptly may develop a strong
tendency to be possessive in order to avoid repetition of the anxiety and frustration of
the weaning experience.
ANAL STAGE
The anal stage develops during the second and third years of life as the anal
area begins to assume a central position in the child's sexual development. This area
becomes more strongly associated with sexual gratification than the mouth. As
children become capable of voluntary muscle control and eventual bowel control, they
discover that sexual stimulation occurs from voluntarily retaining and expelling feces.
Anal ideas and memories involve such activities as elimination, retention, smearing,
or cleaning. Just as with the oral stage, the prototypes of later personality
characteristics develop during the anal stage. Expulsive elimination is the prototype
for emotional outbursts and temper tantrums in later life. Toilet training, which
usually occurs during this time, can have the effect of establishing prototypes for later
conflicts with authority figures, meticulous cleanliness and orderliness, or even
generosity and philanthropy.
PHALLIC STAGE
This stage occurs after mastery of the tasks of toilet training. At approximately
age three or four the child discovers the pleasures of genital manipulation and another
shift of the zone of sexual stimulation occurs. Because of increased dexterity, the
child can now have regular and intense pleasure by stimulating the genitals. It is
during this stage that the Oedipus complex develops. Freud named this stage for its
parallels with the Greek play Oedipus Rex, in which Oedipus kills his father and
marries his mother. The Oedipus complex develops when the child has intense sexual
feelings for the parent of the opposite sex. The
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male child fears castration by the powerful father and subsequently represses his
desires for the mother and identifies with the father. The female child thinks she has
already been castrated and thus suffers from penis envy and is not as fearful of her
mother as the male is of his father. Difficulties in the resolution of the Oedipus
complex may lead to problems of sexual identity
LATENCY PERIOD
The first stages constitute the pre-genital stages. Fixation at any one of these
stages may produce oral, anal, or phallic character types in later life. These stages are
precursors to the fourth stage of psychosexual development, the latency period, which
extends from age five or six to puberty. At about age six, the sexual instinct
diminishes and the child enters a stage of sexual quiescence. During this stage,
children enter school and apply themselves to the tasks of learning. Although the
sexual instinct is repressed, the sexually charged memories of the previous stages are
still intact and will influence personality development
GENITAL STAGE
This fifth stage of psychosexual development occurs at puberty and is
characterized by non-narcissistic behavior that develops in the direction of biological
reproduction. Characteristics of this stage are an attraction for the opposite sex,
socialization and group activities, marriage and the establishment of a family, and
vocational development. The genital stage becomes fused with the pre-genital stages
as kissing, caressing, and sexual intercourse satisfy pre-genital impulses. This stage
lasts from puberty to death or senility, whichever comes first
In summary, Freud emphasized the role of sexuality in the development of
personality. The narrowing manifestations of sexuality proceed through five
psychosexual stages of development. As the person proceeds through these stages,
propelled by inherent forces and molded by the environment, he or she acquires
various components of personality. Fixation at any of the first three stages may
produce certain personality types, such as the oral, anal, or phallic character. Although
there are two further stages of psychosexual development, the basis for the
individual's personality in later life is determined during the first three stages.
MAJOR CONCEPTS
Psychoanalytic theory embodies a host of formulations, assumptions, and
concepts. The major Freudian concepts that we will mention are the unconscious,
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instincts, identification, displacement, the Freudian symbol, defense mechanisms,
transference, and free association.
THE UNCONSCIOUS
The unconscious is an actual entity of the mind, the lowest of its three layers.
The preconscious is the middle layer and the conscious is the upper layer. The
contents of these three layers of the mind vary in their degree of availability to
conscious awareness. Some are readily accessible, because resistance to their
expression is weak; others are not available except through psychoanalysis. What
seems most important about unconscious content is the influence it exerts on the
behavior of the consciously unaware individual. Its effects range from forgetfulness,
slips of the tongue, and accidents to neurosis manifested in hysterical symptoms.
Freud explained that the unconscious stores material that is unavailable to awareness
because of incompatibility. The incompatibility is between certain unacceptable ideas
and the ego, which represses those ideas. Wolman (1989) introduced the concept of
the proto-conscious rather than the preconscious. The proto-conscious is described as
a bridge between conscious and unconscious phenomena. For example, many altered
states of consciousness such as lucid dreams, posthypnotic states, meditation, and
para-psychological phenomena are observed on the proto-conscious level when
individuals are neither totally conscious nor totally unconscious. Fluctuating modes
and shifts from the unconscious to proto-conscious states of mind, and vice versa,
may be observed in schizophrenics and autistic children.
INSTINCTS
Instincts are organic motivational forces, or drives. Freud recognized two
classes of instincts---the life instincts, which he labeled libido, and the death instincts,
or thanatos. The seat of the instincts is the id. Instincts direct psychological processes
and function as the motivational forces in people. Each instinct has a source (energy),
an aim (removal of a need), an object (such as food), and an impetus (strength) (Hall,
1954).
IDENTIFICATION
Identification is an ego mechanism that is important in personality
development. One form of identification is the incorporation of the qualities of
another person into one's personality. According to Hall (1954), there are four types
of identification:
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1. Narcissistic identification is identification with others who possess the
same trait as the identifier, such as athletic ability.
2. Goal-oriented identification is identification with someone who has a trait
the identifier hopes to acquire. A male child wanting to be strong like his
father is an example.
3. Object-loss identification occurs when someone attempts to regain a lost
object by identifying with it. The child who tries to regain parental love
through attempts to please his or her parents by adopting their values and
standards is an example.
4. Authority identification is identification with the prohibitions set down by
parents and
other authority figures. This type of identification leads to the development of the
conscience.
DISPLACEMENT
This is the process by which psychic energy from the instincts can be
rechanneled from one object to another. Only the object of the instinct varies; the
source and the aim of the instinct remain the same. Through this process a major
portion of the personality is formed. The development of the personality through
displacement is a complex process by which multiple tensions can be reduced, and the
object chosen may be far removed from the drive that started the process. For
example, the original drive for oral gratification, which is first satisfied by sucking the
nipple, will undergo several displacements thumb sucking, candy sucking, cigarette
smoking, beer drinking, eating, talking, oratory, and so forth.
THE FREUDIAN SYMBOL
The Freudian symbol is a socially acceptable representation, usually in
dreams, of an unconscious and objectionable thought, wish, or object. For example,
the penis may appear in dreams as an elongated object or an object capable of
penetration, such as a knife, gun, snake, statue, spire, or cigar. The vagina is
represented by objects capable of being receptacles, such as a cave, box, tunnel, or
pocket. In psychoanalytic treatment, the symbols in dreams, which may represent a
wide range of unconscious thoughts, are analyzed as a means to make unconscious
material conscious (Hall, 1954).
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Defense mechanisms are used by the ego to reduce anxiety associated with
threatening situations and feelings. Anxiety is generated by the
instinctual
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demands of the id and the pressures of the superego. In contrast with realistic
measures for dealing directly with the source of the threat, defense mechanisms
distort, deny, or falsify the reality of the anxiety-producing situation. These protective
mechanisms are used by most people, and at times, particularly when the ego is
developing, may prevent the person from being overwhelmed by parental and societal
demands. Such demands may become so excessive that the defense mechanisms
employed thwart the natural development of the person and thereby become
unhealthy. Some of the more important defense mechanisms are as follows (Wolman,
1968).
1. Repression.
Repression forces a threatening memory, thought, or perception out of
consciousness and prevents it from returning. Repression may prevent a person
from seeing an object that is actually in view, or it may allow distortion of
objective reality in order to protect the ego from the danger associated with the
perception. Freud attributed hysterical disorders to repression. Repression may
contribute to a conversion reaction resulting in so called psychosomatic disorders
such as asthma, arthritis, and ulcers
2. Projection.
When forces from the id or the superego threaten a person, the ego sometimes
attributes those forces to an external source. The ego is attempting to convert
internal anxiety into an objective external anxiety that is easier to handle. Thus,
projection is the attribution of one's feelings or characteristics to people in general.
One who is unhappily married may reduce the anxiety associated with that
condition by concluding that all marriages are unhappy.
3. Reaction formation.
Reaction formation occurs when the ego sidetracks the expression of a
threatening impulse by prompting the person to behave in the opposite way. A
person who crusades against vice and corruption may be doing so (unconsciously)
to deny an urge to participate in these same activities. The principal features of
reaction formation are an exaggerated demonstration of the opposite feeling and
an inflexibility of expression of that feeling. Reaction formations are also
employed against external threats, as in the case of exaggerated friendliness
toward or obedience to someone or something that is feared.
4. Fixation.
Fixation is a psychological stunting whereby the person fails to proceed from
one developmental stage to another. People generally experience anxiety
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when faced with the prospect of engaging in a new behavior; they worry about
performing adequately, are afraid of being ridiculed for failure, or fear
punishment. Most people will take the risk in order to grow. However, some
people feel such great anxiety at the thought of the anticipated situation that they
refuse to engage in the new behavior and thus remain fixated at an earlier
developmental level. This fixation, a fear of leaving the old for the new, is also
called separation anxiety.
5. Regression.
Regression is a retreat to a previous stage of development. Some forms of
regressive behavior are so common they are viewed as childish. The college
freshman regresses when he or she returns to the security of the parental home
every weekend or drops out of school rather than face the anxiety of confronting
the world “alone.” A more severe expression of regressive behavior is withdrawal
into a world of daydreams and fantasies to the exclusion of independent
functioning in society (Hall, 1954).
TRANSFERENCE
Transference is a key concept in psychoanalytic therapy. It occurs when the
client's feelings are directed toward the therapist as though the therapist were the
source of the feelings. The therapist's analysis helps the client distinguish between the
fantasy and the reality of the feelings transferred from some previous significant
person to the therapist (Arlow, 1995). Also, the client is helped to gain an
understanding of how he or she “misperceives, misinterprets, and relates to the
present in terms of the past” (p. 32). Since most transferee's feelings are unconscious,
the skill of the therapist is needed to help the client realign these distorted
relationships.
FREE ASSOCIATION
Free association is a technique that encourages the client to report to
the therapist without bias or criticism whatever enters his or her mind. Such
reports enable the therapist to uncover repressed material. The analysis of
hidden conflicts helps the client gain the insight that is the core of growth
(Fine, 1973, p. 21). According to Auld and Hyman (1991, p. 243), “free
association is the primary method (perhaps the only one) by which the
therapist and the patient gain access to unconscious conflict [emphasis
added]. Thus, free association becomes the defining element of
psychoanalytic therapy.”
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PSYCHOANALYTIC THERAPY
Small and Bellak developed a six-step model for brief psychotherapies. First,
the problem is identified. Second, a detailed history is taken to secure data that will
reveal the client's personal experiences and lead to a diagnosis. Third, causal
relationships are established. Fourth, methods of intervention are chosen. The fifth
step incorporates the working through phase. The sixth and final step is to leave the
client with a positive transference. In step four Small and Bellak recommend
environmental manipulation strategies, similar, to those suggested by Ellis's (1995)
rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which depart from and greatly augment
the procedures used in traditional psychoanalytic therapy. Examples might include the
therapist telephoning family members or friends; job placement referrals for the
client; teaching clients cognitive skills to use when problems beset them; and even
providing clients with audiotaped cassettes of therapy sessions to listen to in their
homes, cars, or offices to enhance their ego coping strength during periods of crisis or
stressful situations.
AUTONOMOUS PSYCHOTHERAPY
Auld and Hyman (1991, p. 3) brought Freudian psychotherapy into
contemporary usage through what Szasz (1974) termed autonomous psychotherapy.
They employ some of the basic formulations of both Szasz and Freud and apply
modern psychodynamic techniques based on empirical research findings of the past
fifty years. In autonomous psychotherapy the therapist and client develop a working
alliance, built on mutual trust and a supportive and empathic relationship, that
facilitates both parties in bringing the client's unconscious conflicts to light. The
supportive, caring, and empathic relationship, similar to what we would construe to be
a person-centered modality, operates to elicit free association to uncover unconscious
material needed for the therapy to move forward. Unlike the person-centered
approach, which uses basic facilitative conditions to help clients become more selfactualized, autonomous psychotherapy practitioners use these basic facilitative
techniques to effect therapy while providing optimum client autonomy. Thus the
autonomous psychotherapist uses fewer artificial means, such as hypnosis or word
association, than do traditional psychoanalytically oriented therapists in assisting their
clients to uncover therapeutically important material from the unconscious. The
therapist must be knowledgeable and skilled in facilitating the associative process,
working through transference issues, dealing with the client's repression, handling
resistance, and performing other psychoanalytic techniques. But the curative
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factors lie in the associative process, the therapist's ability to make appropriate
interpretations within the working alliance, and the capability and motivation of the
client and therapist to experience autonomy, work through defenses, and deal with
issues of transference and other impediments to resolving unconscious conflicts.
TIME-LIMITED DYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
Strupp and Binder's (1984) time-limited dynamic psychotherapy integrates
important elements of both traditional and modern psychoanalytic therapy. Although
the time limitation of the therapy is not as clear-cut as in transactional analysis or
REBT, it is an important dynamic because it motivates both client and therapist to
work toward attainment of some degree of clarity or progress during each session.
Time is of greater essence than in more traditional forms of psychoanalytic therapy.
History of Behaviour therapy
Unlike other theories of psychotherapy, behavior therapy has its roots in
experimental psychology and the study of the learning process in humans and
animals. Although a few physicians used approaches that are remarkably similar to
behavior therapy as it is practiced today, there was no systematic study of behavior
that led to principles of behavior change until the work of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov’s
observations about the salivation of dogs before receiving food led to the study and
development of classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning).
Influenced by Pavlov’s conditioning experiments, John Watson applied these
concepts to human behavior. Another important approach to learning is operant
conditioning, developed by B. F. Skinner, which examines how environmental
influences affect or shape the behavior of individuals. Classical and operant
conditioning study observable behaviors that operate outside the individual. In
contrast, social cognitive theory, developed by Albert Bandura, deals with internal or
cognitive processes and attempts to explain how individuals learn through
observations or perceptions of their environment. These three approaches (operant
and classical conditioning and social learning theory) are described in more detail in
this chapter, as is the current status of behavior therapy.
Classical Conditioning
While studying the digestive process of dogs, Pavlov observed that dogs
would salivate before food was put on their tongues (Hyman, 1964). On closer
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observation, he concluded that the dogs had learned from environmental events, such
as a sound or the sight of food, that they were about to be fed. He was able to present
a neutral stimulus, such as a sound or a light (the conditioned stimulus, CS), for a
second or two before presenting the food (the unconditioned stimulus, UCS) to the
dog. The dog’s salivation at the sight of food (the UCS) was the unconditioned
response (UCR). After the CS (light or tone) was presented together with the UCS
(food), the CS (by itself) would produce salivation, the conditioned response (CR),
from the dog. Thus, the learned behavior was the conditioned response (CR) to the
presentation of a conditioned stimulus (CS). Classical conditioning could be applied
to a variety of species (including humans) and types of behavior. For example, Pavlov
was able to pair a black square with a previously conditioned stimulus, a beat of a
metronome, and demonstrate second-order or higher-order conditioning. Other
experimentation dealt with how long an animal might respond to the conditioned
stimulus (CS) without the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus before the CS (a
light) would fail to evoke a CR (salivation) and the CR would be extinguished. In this
way, scientific findings regarding the learning process began to develop. As research
into classical conditioning and other behavioral principles has increased, investigators
have found that the principles are quite complex. For example, classical conditioning
does not always occur with pairings such as those described in this section.
In the early 1900s, John Watson, an experimental psychologist at Johns
Hopkins University, was impressed by Pavlov’s research. He appreciated the
objectivity of the approach, which called for studying directly observable stimuli and
responses without resorting to internal mental processes, such as thoughts or imagery
(Watson, 1914). In a famous study (Watson & Rayner, 1920), Watson explained how
an emotional reaction could be conditioned in a child by using a classical conditioning
model. Investigators had noted that Albert, an 11- month- old boy, would show fear
and appear startled when he heard a loud noise. Albert also played comfortably with a
white rat. However, when the sound was presented immediately before Albert saw the
white rat, he became afraid. After seven pairings of the sound and the rat over a 1week period, Albert cried when the rat was presented alone (Beck, Levinson, & Irons,
2009). Watson’s work (1914, 1919), which was based on research such as the study of
Albert, was to have an impact on many other psychologists.
Operant Conditioning
Whereas classical conditioning focuses on the antecedents of behavior (the
presentation of the CS before the UCS), operant conditioning focuses
on
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antecedents and consequences of behaviors. Based on the early work of E. L.
Thorndike and B. F. Skinner, operant conditioning (also known as instrumental
conditioning) laid the groundwork for much of what constitutes behavior therapy
today. This work formed the basis for the application of principles of behavior to a
wide variety of problems, especially those dealing with severe mental disabilities such
as schizophrenia and autism. Working at about the same time as Pavlov, Edward L.
Thorndike (1898, 1911) was using controlled experimental procedures to study
learning. Rather than studying reflex behavior, as Pavlov had done, he was interested
in the learning of new behaviors. Using cats as subjects, he would place food outside a
cage and observe how a cat would try to escape and find the food by releasing a latch.
The first escape from a box occurred in a trial-and-error fashion. Later the cat would
be able to escape from the box more and more quickly. Recording the time taken to
press the latch, Thorndike plotted a learning curve. From his experiments and
observations, Thorndike was able to derive the Law of Effect, that “consequences that
follow behavior help learning”.
In essence, the correct response (for example, touching the lever) was
strengthened, and incorrect responses (biting at the bars of the cage) were weakened
or lessened. Besides the Law of Effect, Thorndike derived many other principles of
behavior from his experiments, emphasizing the importance of the adaptive nature of
learning for animals to survive and function well. The name most associated with
operant conditioning is B. F. Skinner (1904–1990). Whereas Thorndike had seen
classical and operant conditioning as being quite similar, Skinner saw many
differences. Basically, operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is
altered by systematically changing consequences.
An example of this is the pigeon in a Skinner box, a small chamber in which a
pigeon can peck at a lighted key. The experimenter controls the amount of food the
pigeon receives (reinforcement), and the pigeon’s “pecks” are automatically recorded.
By selectively reinforcing a green light rather than a red light, the pigeon can learn to
peck at the green light and not the red light. Although much of Skinner’s work was
with laboratory animals, he extended his principles of operant conditioning to human
behavior as well. Skinner’s (1953) attempt to apply operant conditioning principles to
complex human behavior drew much attention. He wrote of the relevance of operant
conditioning for government, education, business, religion, psychotherapy, and a
variety of human interactions. His novel, Walden Two (1948), shows how operant
conditioning can provide the basis for an ideal community. Much of the controversy
over Skinner’s views dealt
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with critics’ objections to the application of limited laboratory findings to prescriptions
for living.
Social Cognitive Theory
Whereas classical and operant conditioning focus on overt behavior, actions
that people can directly observe, social cognitive theories focus on the study of covert
behaviors, those that take place within the individual and cannot be observed (or at
least not easily). These include physiological responses (such as blood pressure
and muscle te
behaviors in their research and psychotherapy. One particularly significant
contribution to this field has been the research of Albert Bandura, which can be traced
to earlier investigators such as Mary Cover Jones. A student of Watson, Jones (1924)
described the treatment of a 3-year-old boy, Peter, who was afraid of rabbits. Jones’s
treatment of Peter illustrates two important aspects of social learning theory:
observation and modeling. Peter’s fears were treated by having him observe children
who enjoyed their play with a rabbit and served as models for Peter. In this way, Peter
could observe that rabbits did not need to be frightening. Later, Jones put a caged
rabbit into a room, at some distance from Peter, while he was eating his favorite food.
Over a period of days, Jones brought the rabbit closer and closer, always making sure
that Peter was comfortable with the rabbit. At the end of this treatment, Peter was able
to play with and pat the rabbit. In this example, Jones worked with both Peter’s overt
and covert behavior. Initiated in the 1960s by Albert Bandura, social cognitive theory,
formerly called social
learning theory, emphasizes the
role of
thoughts
a
preferences, predictions, anticipations, and self-perceptions; and behavioral actions
(Martin, 2004). These three factors operate interactively, with each affecting the other
two. An important aspect of Bandura’s theory is that individuals learn by observing
others. At the center of this triad is the self-system, a set of cognitive structures and
perceptions that regulate behavior (Bandura, 1978, 1997, 2000). These cognitive
structures include self- awareness, self-inducements, and self-reinforcement that can
influence thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. Related to these is the concept of selfefficacy, which deals with how well people perceive that they are able to deal with
difficult tasks
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in life (Bandura, 1986). Associated with a strong sense of self-efficacy is the ability to
accomplish significant tasks, learn from observation, believe that one can succeed,
and have a low level of anxiety.
Although classical conditioning and operant conditioning are important components
of behavior therapy as it is practiced today, a blend of cognitive and behavioral
approaches is more representative of current practice, particularly for people who are
not living in institutions. The flexibility provided by theorists such as Bandura
provides many ways for viewing psychological disorders.
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E 105-GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
UNIT 4: THEORIES OF CAREER
DEVELOPMENT
PREPARED BY: DR. SHAZIA SIRAJ
ZARGAR
“Career Development”
The term “career” can therefore be defined as the sequence of interaction of
individuals with society, education and organisations throughout their lifespan. It is
necessary, however, to emphasise that the majority of the responsibility now rests on the
individual for their own career progression, which requires sustained employability (Beukes,
2009; Herr, 2004).
According to Baer, Flexer, Luft and Simmons (2008) an individual’s career
development is a lifetime process that encompasses the growth and change process of
childhood, the formal career education at school, and the maturational processes that continue
throughout a person’s working adulthood and into retirement.
According to Stevens (1990), the common pattern of multiple careers during
individuals’ adult years requires that they evaluate, make personal decisions and implement
career transition actions at several points during their lifetime.
Super (1957) identified five stages -growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance,
and decline that were thought to capture individuals’ work related experiences from the years
of childhood to retirement. Miller and Form (1951) and Hall and Nougaim (1968) also
identified five career stages, and Schein (1978) proposed a sequence of nine stages of career
development.
The Saskatchewan Career Development Services and Supports Survey asked
respondents to provide a working definition of career development. Definitions varied along
a continuum that started from a more traditional vocational approach focusing on immediate
educational and occupational/employment choices towards a broader approach that also
included the development of long-term career management skills that could be applied over a
lifetime.
The traditional definition of career development is focussed on the goal of preparing
for the world of work. It is seen as encompassing the development of the whole person, but
places a critical emphasis on gaining the skills and experience for work in order to find one’s
vocation in life. The primary goal of this approach is directed to improving one’s
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The second view of career development defines it as a lifelong process of becoming
aware of, exploring and experiencing factors that influence various aspects of a person’s life.
The knowledge, skills and attitudes that evolve through this path of discovery enable
planning and decision making not only helps in work exploration and related employment
and vocational choices but also about personal management and life/work skills. Career
development is part of lifelong learning, in that personal and vocational skills constantly
change and expand during a lifetime in response to career changes and emerging
opportunities.
The importance of career and career development
Career development has strong implications for individuals, employers and
governments.
Individuals
Changes in the way work is structured and organized, together with the growth of the
knowledge-based economy, will require a reconceptualisation of what a career means to
people (Arnold and Jackson, 1997). For much of the 20th century, the term ‘career’ was used
primarily to describe the occupational choice and work history of managers and
professionals. It was often linked to ideas of progression up an organizational hierarchy.
While many people continue to pursue this kind of organizational career, many others will be
leading very different working lives..
‘Career’ is a multifaceted concept. It can be about meaning, sense of purpose and
direction. It also includes ideas of progression and development both at work and at a
personal level. In this way, it embraces ideas about lifelong learning as well as skill
development. It is also concerned with people’s futures-the skills they want to develop, what
they want to achieve at work and as a person -as well as their future employability in a
rapidly changing labour market. New career concepts, such as the portfolio career (Handy,
1989)-when someone has more than one job (paid or unpaid)-and the boundary less career
(Arthur, 1994)-pursuing a career across traditional boundaries, such as across organizations
(i.e. not within a single organization), or across functional or job boundaries-recognize that
career has a subjective component: the sense that people make of their own career, their
personal histories, and the skills, attitudes and beliefs that they have acquired. These concepts
are also in part a response to, and recognition of, the fact that professionals and specialistsknowledge workers-may pursue their careers somewhat differently from other groups and are
often more loyal to their professional community than to their current employer. For example,
they may be more motivated by the intrinsic interest and challenge of their work, and may be
more prepared to change employer for professional development. However, these changes
apply equally to people who are not
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knowledge workers. The new, more inclusive, model of a career ‘recognizes both the
changed objective realities in which (all) careers are being developed and also the
universality of people’s intense involvement with the subjective aspects of their career’
(Arnold and Jackson, 1997).
Employers
Effective career development support is important not only for individuals but also for
the organizations that employ them. For both of them it is part of a strategy of achieving
resilience to handle change more effectively. The business argument, as Hirsh and Jackson
(2004) point out, is that careers are also:
1. How higher-level and business-specific skills and knowledge are acquired,
through employees undertaking a sequence of work experiences which
progressively improve those skills. Key writers on careers in organizations see
careers and learning as inextricably linked.
2. How skills and knowledge are deployed and spread within organizations by
employees moving from one job to another, in response to where they are
needed. Such deployment and knowledge-sharing is critical to organizational
flexibility;
3. Career movement is how culture and values – the ‘glue’ of the organization-are
transmitted, and how personal networks are extended and strengthened.
Corporate culture and networks are often key to rapid and effective action;
4. Career development is a major tool for attracting, motivating and retaining
good quality employees. Purcell, J. et al. (2003) found that providing career
opportunities is one of 11 key practices which influence organizational
performance.
Career skills are important for both employees and employers, along with the career
education to acquire those skills (Tamkin and Hillage, 1999). Employees need career
management skills to navigate the labour market. Employers who have more skillful
employees can expect them to navigate their internal labour markets more effectively and for
these employees to be more aware of the need to keep their skills relevant.
Governments
There is also an important role for governments in facilitating career development, not
only to support the development of a knowledge economy but also to avoid the consequences
of some people being excluded from having careers in any meaningful sense. Recognizing
that everyone potentially has a career and that, as a consequence, everyone has career
development needs, means that attention must be paid to how career development is best
supported. The communiqué from the Third international symposium
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on career development and public policy held in Sydney in April 2006 identified that career
development supports workforce development in three ways:
1. Workforce preparation: how the career development of young people is
supported prior to their entry into the labour market;
2. Workforce adaptability and sustainability: how career development support is
provided
to employed workers;
3. Workforce reintegration: how career development support is provided to adults
as they move in and out of the labour market and between employers. The
communiqué from the symposium noted that ‘In many developed countries, a
major current deficiency is adequate career development support for existing
workers.
Public Policy
There is an important role for public policy in encouraging and supporting employers
in providing career development services for their employees and assuring access to career
development services in the wider community’. Understanding the role of public policy in
providing career guidance to support existing workers requires a good appreciation of how
employers provide career development support, who the main players are in the provision of
career development support, recent developments in the delivery of career support, the
changing pattern of employment opportunities and the increasingly specialized labour
markets in which many careers are being pursued. The communiqué provides a rationale for
this report and for its focus on how career development support is provided to existing
workers. Its recommendations, however, need to be understood in the context of economic
and employment trends in the EU, the development of the knowledge economy and people’s
changing expectations.
‘Workforce development’ is a term with several possible meanings. This report
focuses on the definition by Jacobs and Hawley (forthcoming); ‘the coordination of public
and private sector policies and programs that provides individuals with the opportunity for a
sustainable livelihood and helps organizations to achieve exemplary goals, consistent with the
societal context’.
DECISION MAKING STRATEGIES FOR CAREER SUCCESS
Decision making is the process of identifying and selecting alternatives based on your
unique preferences. Successful career planning requires you to make many decisions, an
ability to set goals and then to know how to reach them. Often career decisions are among the
most challenging you will ever make throughout your life, and never more so than in your
college years. They are the basis of your major choice(s),
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internship and co-curricular involvements, and your first job. Ideally, you want to be able to
make good decisions, which mean you want them to have a high probability of success. But
decisions involve uncertainty, which makes many people uncomfortable. Planning can
decrease the degree of uncertainty and increase your chances of achieving your desired goal.
To enhance your decision-making process, let’s first gain an understanding of different
Decision Making Styles:
Planning – Using rational thought to weigh the facts, obtain the necessary information, and
explore consequences.
Impulsive – This is the “leap before you look” approach, or giving little thought to the
decision before taking action.
Intuitive – Making the decision based on a “gut feeling” and striving to preserve harmony.
Compliant – This is when a person is content to let someone else decide and typically doesn’t
assert his or her own preferences.
Delaying – Avoiding thinking about it or taking action. In this approach the decision maker
procrastinates and hopes that something happens on its own to avoid making a decision.
Fatalistic – The belief that the decision is up to fate and it will happen how it is supposed to.
Agonizing – Worrying that any decision made will be the wrong one-Being overwhelmed by
the details.
Paralytic – Experiencing complete indecision and fear, resulting in the inability to act.
Defaulting – “Playing it safe” by choosing the direction with the lowest level of risk.
Reflection Questions:
1. Which of the above decision-making styles did you use to make each
decision?
2. Think through each decision using another style.
3. Is there another approach that could have proven to be more useful? Why?
4. What is the approach that you typically use most often? Least often?
Now that you have identified the styles that you typically use in making decisions,
let’s look at barriers that can interfere with the process. These factors can be external,
internal, or a combination of both. In this exercise, look at the decisions that you made above
and using the chart below, check any of the factors that may have influenced you in making
them.
External Factors
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• Family expectations
• Family responsibilities
• Cultural stereotypes
• Male/female stereotypes
• Survival needs
• Other (specify)
Internal Factors
• Lack of self-confidence
• Fear of change
• Fear of making the wrong decision
• Fear of failure
• Fear of ridicule
Hollands theory of career development
The Holland Codes represents a set of personality types described in a theory of
careers and vocational choice formulated by psychologist John L. Holland .Holland's theory
argued that "the choice of a vocation is an expression of personality" and that the six factor
typology he articulated could be used to describe both persons and work environments. His
model has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor for categorizing jobs relative to
interests. The Holland Codes are usually referred to by their first letters: RIASEC. He
presented his theory graphically as hexagon. The shorter the distance between their corners
on the hexagon, the more closely they are related. Holland's (1992) theory of career guidance
is based on four basic assumptions. The first assumption is that most people can be
characterized as one or a combination of six personality types. Second, the theory assumes
that the work environment can be classified into the same six categories of personality.
Third the theory assumes that people seek out environments compatible with their
personality types. And, fourth, the theory holds that particular behavioral patterns emitted in
any environment are determined by personality and environmental types. According to John
Holland's theory, most people are one of six personality types: Realistic, Investigative,
Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The characteristics of each of these are
described below. Realistic
The realistic type is the person who is most comfortable being involved in activities
that are concrete and based on clearly defined systems and norms. Conversely, the realistic
type of person is not comfortable in social contexts that require interpersonal skills,
expressive ability and situations that require the expression of emotional sensitivity.
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Traits :
 Likes
to work with animals, tools, or machines; generally avoids social
activities like
teaching, healing, and informing others

Has good skills in working with tools, mechanical or electrical drawings,
machines, or plants and animals Examples of Realistic work environments
include: Farmer, Forester, Fire Fighter, Electrician, Pilot, Police Officer,
Flight Engineer, Truck Driver, Diesel Mechanic, Carpenter, Locomotive
Engineer
Investigative:
The investigative type is analytical in orientation and enjoys drawing conclusions
from systematic and objective observations. Repetitive and routine activities are likely to be
avoided by this group of people.
Artistic
The artistic type thrives on being expressive and original. This type tends to be
unconventional and deeply sensitive to personal feelings, thoughts and ideas. Activities that
are orderly and mechanical are likely to be unattractive to this group.
Traits:


Likes to do creative activities like art, drama, crafts, dance, music, or
creative writing; generally avoids highly ordered or repetitive activities.
Has good artistic abilities in creative writing, drama, crafts, music, or art
Values the creative arts like drama, music art, or the works of creative
writers Sees self as expressive, original, and independent Examples of
Artistic work environments include: Dancer, Book Editor, Art Teacher,
Clothes Designer, Musician, Graphic Designer, Comedian, Actor, Disc
Jockey, Composer
SOCIAL
The social type is strongly oriented to human interactions. These people are sensitive
to human needs, nuances of emotions, thinking patterns and other aspects of human behavior.
Activities that occur in non-human situations are likely to be avoided.
Traits:
• Likes to do things to help people, teaching, nursing, or giving first-aid,
providing information. Generally avoids using machines, tools, or animals to achieve
a goal
• Is good at teaching, counseling, nursing, or giving information
• Values helping people and solving social problems
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• Sees self as helpful, friendly, and trustworthy
• Examples of Social work environments include:
Counselor, Parole Officer, Social Worker, Nurse, Dental Hygienist, Physical
Therapist, Teacher, Librarian, Athletic Trainer
ENTERPRISING The enterprising type is typically self-driven. An individual from this
group would enjoy organizing people, objects and resources to create systems and structures
for the attainment of goals and targets. The enterprising type is likely to be uncomfortable in
work situations that are repetitive and do not allow for leadership or the expression and
implementation of personal ideas.
Traits:
• Likes to lead, persuade people, sell things/ideas; generally avoids activities
that require careful observation and scientific, analytical thinking
• Is good at leading people and selling things/ideas
• Values success in politics, leadership, or business
• Sees self as energetic, ambitious, and sociable
Examples of Enterprising work environments
include:
Auctioneer, Sales Person, Travel Agent, Lawyer, Recreation Leader, City Manager,
Sales Manager, Bank President, TV Newscaster, School Principal, Camp Director, Customs
Inspector, Hotel Manager
Conventional
The conventional type tends to find the highest level of comfort in situations that are
organized and predictable. They are likely to enjoy activities that require routine and
repetition. Unpredictable, disordered situations and activities that require innovation are
likely to be avoided.
Traits:
• Likes to work with numbers, records, or machines in a set orderly way;
generally avoids ambiguous unstructured activities
• Is good at working with written records and numbers in a systematic orderly
way
• Values success in business
• Sees self as orderly, and good at following a set plan
Examples of Conventional work environments include: Court Clerk, Secretary,
Bookkeeper, Bank Teller, Mail Carrier, Post Office Clerk, Typist, Time Keeper, and Title
Examiner
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Krumboltz theory of Career Development: (1979, 1996)
The basis for Krumbolt’s rationale is based off of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.
Bandura identifies three types of learning experiences: Instrumental- direct experience,
Associative-direct experience with reinforcement, and Vicarious- new behaviors learned
through observations of others and their behavior. Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory
basically says there are several factors that influence one’s career choice. Those range from
genetic endowment and special abilities such as: sex, race, physical appearance, intelligence,
abilities, and talents. Next are environmental conditions and events including: cultural,
social, political, and economic forces beyond one’s control. The last condition considered is
instrumental and associative learning experiences. Outcomes of those factors influence the
career decision making process. There are a few reasons why people choose particular careers
over others. Some of those reasons are: they are successful at tasks that they think that
particular occupation uses, someone they look up to has persuaded them to go into a
particular field because it would be to their advantage, and/or they have observed
reinforcement for activities associated with members in that particular area of work.
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Krumboltz has formulated an equally comprehensive but less developmental socialcognitive approach to career development. He takes the position that four factors influence a
person’s career choice.
• Genetic endowment
• Conditions and events in the environment
• Learning experiences
• Task- approach skills (e.g. values, work habits)
According to Krumboltz (1979), career decisions are controlled by both internal and
external processes. There is continuous learning which results in what Krumboltz (1979)
labels:
• Self- observation generalizations, an overt or covert self – statement of
evaluation that may or may not be true.
• Task-approach skills, an effort by people to project their self-observation
generalizations into the future in order to predict future events.
• Actions, implementations of behaviors, such as applying for a job.
Overall, a strength of Krumboltz’s (1979) theory is that it views people as having
some period of control over events they find reinforcing. Whereas individuals and the world
change, persons can learn to take advantage of learning opportunities and make career
decisions accordingly. In summary, Krumboltz (1979) outlines “a dynamic approach to
career counseling that can be applied to males and females, as well as to racial and ethnic
minorities who have individualistic perspectives”
Super's (1957) theory of career development
It has long been of interest to careers researchers (Fouad & Arhona, 1994; Savickas,
1994; Whiston & Brecheisen, 2002). Its insightful illustration of the stages individuals pass
through in their careers has made it widely applicable by careers practitioners and has
profoundly affected numerous clients. The purpose of this theory as a tool to illustrate how
image norms may operate in each of his career stages. Image norms may influence the career
decisions and developmental tasks inherent in each of Super's (1990) stages. An image norm
is the belief that individuals must present or possess a certain image, consistent with
occupational, organizational or industry standards, in order to achieve career success. The rise
in image discrimination cases suggests that image norms may play an important role in
employment decisions.
Developmental and Lifespan Oriented Approaches:
The principles that govern human development have been central to theory
development and practice in Career Psychology. Career Developmental Theorists such as
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Eli Ginzberg (1951), Donald Super (1957) and Linda Gottfredson (1997) put forth the idea
that occupational development keeps pace with the individual’s maturation. As with other
aspects of human development, career development is also described as occurring in stages.
Each of these presents career developmental tasks, the successful resolution of which is
critical to the passage into and comfort in the next stage of career development. (Super,1957).
Career developmental tasks are expectations of what is thought to be typical to a person at a
given stage of development. For example, the typical career development task before the high
school student in India is to choose between science, commerce, humanities and vocational
streams for further education. Furthermore, career developmental tasks are what society
would like to see happen at a particular stage of career development.
Stages in Career Development:
Eli Ginzberg (1951) and Donald Super (1957) describe career development as
occurring in stages that stretch across the individual’s lifespan. According to this school of
thought career development is closely interlinked with the individual’s physical, cognitive,
emotional and social maturation. The initial stage in career development occurring during
childhood has been called the period of Growth. In the beginning, the child’s cognitive
maturation is at a level where fantasy rules one’s perceptions and interactions with the world.
Time perspectives have not yet become tangible and the child’s expressions are often not
rooted in reality.
As development continues, reality orientations become stronger. That is a ‘future’ and
that there are different kinds of jobs in which one could specialize, become more real to the
child as he or she grows up. It is perhaps during these years that the rudimentary foundations
of the individual’s vocational self-concept are laid. According to Super (1957), the rest of
career development reflects the individual’s attempt to implement this vocational selfconcept. The individual then moves into the period of Exploration – a crucial period in the
career development sequence because this period also coincides with the developmental stage
of adolescence. Resolving the identity crisis is perhaps the most important task faced by the
individual at this stage of development. Finding the answer to the question - Who am I? Lies
at the heart of the identity crisis. Career choice is an essential aspect of discovering one’s
personal identity. From the point of view of career development, this is the time when the
individual has the opportunity to informally ‘try out’ and explore various career possibilities.
These opportunities could emerge spontaneously in school, through interactions with friends,
information from the media and so on. A vital point to be noted is that while exploration will
present the individual with information, the validity of this information is not known.
Facilitating interactions
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with career counselors, promoting self-discovery, organizing work experience programmes,
are examples of career development activities that make significant contributions to helping
the individual deal successfully with the career developmental task of exploration.
The next stage in career development has been called the period of Establishment.
Occurring during early adulthood, this is a time when the individual actually makes a career
choice and establishes himself or herself as a worker. The career direction that is chosen
could be strongly influenced by the nature of the individual’s experiences during the
preceding periods of Growth and Exploration. Maintenance is described as the next stage in
career development and is a time mainly of building one’s life as a professional in the chosen
area through\ continuous adjustments and efforts to improve one’s position. The final stage is
the period of Decline when one’s output as a worker are said to decrease and perceptions for
retirement begin.
Lifespan and Life space:
This brings us to the important concept of career maturity. The developing person
faces career development tasks at each stage in his or her development. Exploiting the
opportunities offered by these tasks and acquiring the ability to meet the demands of these
tasks contributes to career maturity. The absence of opportunities to meet a career
developmental task inhibits the maturational process and causes a career maturation lag.
The Life-Span, Life-Space approach to Careers
Career
Development
Stage
Age range
Orientations and career
developmental tasks Growth
Growth
Prevocational
0-14
0-3
Fantasy
4-10
Thoughts about career are fantasy –
based
Interest
Interest
11-12
Likes and dislikes begin to colour
thoughts about work.
Capacity
Exploration
13-14
15-24
Capacity 13-14
Tentative
15-17
Able to
tentatively
Not oriented to work career or vocation
Fantasy
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express
career
choices
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Transition
18-21
Choices are increasingly oriented to
realities and facts.
Trial
Establishment
22-24
25-45
Initial career commitment and first job.
Trial
25-30
Job changes could
experiences accrue.
Stabilization
31-44
Settles into a job and finds stability
Maintenance
45-65
Growth and development within the
chosen career
area
Decline
Declaration
Retirement
65
65-70
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plus Preparation to leave the work force
Work activity decreases and slows down
plus Leaves the world of work.
continue
as
Super’s (1957), Developmental Self Concept Theory Compared with other theoretical
propositions, developmental theories are generally more inclusive, more concerned with
longitudinal expression of career behavior and more inclined to highlight the importance of
self concept. Super (1957, 1990) believed that making a career choice is ‘linked with
implementing one’s vocational self-concept’. People’s views of themselves are reflected in
what they do. He suggested that vocational development unfolds in five stages, each of which
contains a developmental task to be completed. The major contributions of developmental
career counseling are its emphasis on the importance of the life span in career decision
making and on career decisions that are influenced by other processes and events in a
person’s life. This “life pattern paradigm for career counseling encourages counselors to
consider a client’s aptitude and interest in a matrix of life experiences, not just in comparison
to some normative group” (Savicks, 1989).
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Theory- Super’s Theory- Theorist- Donald Super
“One of Super’s greatest contributions to career development has been his emphasis of
the role self-concept development plays. Super recognized that the self-concept changes and
develops throughout people’s lives as a result of experience. People successively refine their
self-concept(s) over time and application to the world of work creates adaptation in their
career choice,”(Career Development Theory, 2003). Super developed six life and career stage
developments. Those stages are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Crystallization stage- 14-18 years
Specification stage- 18-21 years
Implementation stage- 21-24 years
Stabilization stage- 24-35 years
Consolidation stage- 35 years
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6. Readiness for retirement- 55 years (Career Development Theory, 2003).
1. Crystallization stage- 14-18 years:
During the Crystallization stage, one begins to form a general vocational
goal.
2. Specification stage- 18-21 years
The next stage, the Specification stage, they move from tentative to a specific
preference.
3. Implementation stage- 21-24 years
In the Implementation stage, they complete training and enter employment.
4. Stabilization stage- 24-35 years
During the Stabilization stage, one confirms their choice through work
experience.
Readiness for retirement- 55 years (Career Development Theory, 2003).
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During the Consolidation stage, one would advance in career.
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7.
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M.A. Education Semester II
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EDUC:201 PHILOSOPHICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION-II
UNIT I: FUNDAMENTAL
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES
PREPARED BY: DINESH KUMAR K
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1.1. EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES
The word epistemology is derived from the ancient Greek epistēmē, meaning
"knowledge, understanding", and logos, meaning "word" is a word first used by the
Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier to describe the branch of philosophy
concerned with the theory of knowledge. It examines the nature of knowledge and how
one can acquire it. Much of the debate in this field has focused on the philosophical
analysis of the nature of knowledge and how it relates to such concepts as truth, belief,
and justification. The term was probably first introduced in Ferrier's Institutes of
Metaphysic: The Theory of Knowing and Being.
ISSUES DISCUSSED IN EPISTEMOLOGY
Types of knowledge vary with their sources, their methods of acquisition and validation.
1. Empirical Knowledge
This is the type of knowledge we obtain through observation of the things around us,
through our senses and through personal experiences from actions in which we are
involved. It is the characteristic of knowledge in the science, both natural and social.
Knowledge acquired through seeing objects, hearing sounds, tasting flavour, feeling
something or smelling odour is empirical knowledge. In short, our endowed senses of
seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling are the gateways to scientific knowledge.
This is a very important type of knowledge and it is very much valued in today’s world
of science and technology. But do senses alone furnish us with knowledge, as scientists
would hold? It must be noted that the senses alone without the co-operation of reason
cannot furnish us with knowledge. Until reason interprets them and gives them
meaning, they are simply raw data without meaning. For example, the direct object of
the sense of sight is simply colour, when we look, we can only see colour. That is all the
sense of sight can furnish us with. It is reason, which tells us that what we are seeing is a
tree, a table, a blackboard, an animal, a human being etc. Again, the direct object of the
sense of hearing is sound. The ears do not tell us where the sound comes from. We hear
the sound of an aeroplane passing, the sound of gunshot, or that of a thunder. It is our
reason that tells us, for example, that the sound we are hearing is that of thunder not
that of aeroplane or gunshot. Our ears only register the sound without telling us the
meaning of the sound. The same applies to all other senses. When I perceive an odour,
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UNIT I: FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES
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2. Rational Knowledge
This is the knowledge derived by reasoning that is not by observation, but by inferring
new knowledge from what we already know. As the mathematical subjects are good
examples of rational knowledge, so also are subjects like philosophy and logic. Given
some hypothesis or premise, we can go ahead to deduce a number of conclusions that
must necessarily follow. For example, given the premise that a man is a bachelor, it
follows as of necessity that he is not married. Or the fact that there is a teacher implies
that there must be a learner. From the presence of the teacher, we logically infer or
deduce that there must be a learner or some learners whom he teaches. The hallmark of
this type of knowledge is that the conclusions being inferred must logically follow from
what went before. It is a law of reasoning and argumentation, which applies to most
school subjects. Hence, in mathematics, for example, the teacher should not just mark
the answer to a mathematical question correct or wrong, rather should award credit to
the logical steps by which the student reaches the answer. This is also the practice in
philosophy; it is not so much in the final conclusion that matters as the reasoning
process in arriving at the conclusion. We have already treated in unit one that one of the
characteristics of philosophy is the absolute reliance on the use of logical reasoning. The
importance of rationalism as a source of knowledge is two fold. First, it demands of us to
include in the curriculum, subjects that will develop the rational faculties, studies, like
mathematics. In terms of methodology, teachers should be encouraged to give students
opportunity to think for themselves rather than being told everything.
3. Revealed Knowledge
This is the characteristic of religions, especially the revealed ones. The religions which
most of us are familiar with are Christianity and Islam, through the Bible and Quran.
This type of knowledge was revealed to the prophets of these religions who faithfully
recorded the knowledge for mankind and imparted the contents to their followers. The
method of the original acquisition was by vision or trance, possible only to those who
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for example, it is my reason that interprets the odour I am perceiving and tells me that it
is the odour of a decaying animal or cosmetics. When a blind man touches something,
the sense of touch does not tell him what he is touching. It is reason that interprets his
experience and tells him what he is touching. All these imply that the senses alone
without reason cannot furnish us with knowledge. What is the implication of this for
teaching and learning? Teachers of science subjects should take note of the
characteristics of this type of knowledge. In most schools, science is taught as though it
is the knowledge of the experiments being performed that gives the students scientific
knowledge and scientific attitude of mind. However, it is the students’ ability to observe,
explore, to formulate hypotheses and devise ways of verifying the truth of the
hypotheses that is important. The scientific attitude of mankind, which is the attitude of
subjecting any truth we know or hold to verification, is a very important value that
teachers should inculcate in their students. Hence, students should be encouraged to
observe and find out things for themselves and to record their observations and seek
further proofs of the truth of the original discoveries. We have already demonstrated
that sense perception requires the cooperation of reason in order to produce
knowledge. The blending of rationalism with empiricism challenges the science teacher
to come with acceptable teaching methodology that is congruent with this
reconciliation. The teacher, in teaching and learning processes, should appeal to both
sensation and reason of the learner to produce knowledge.
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are holy enough or those to whom God or Allah had chosen to reveal Himself. This type
of knowledge is not open to observation, or empirical tests, nor can be proven by logic
and human reasoning. It just has to be accepted by faith. We have already presented to
you in unit one Bertrand Russell’s definition of philosophy as a no-mans-land. He stated
that all definite knowledge as to what has been ascertained belongs to science, and all
dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. Similarly, we have
shown in unit one under the characteristics of philosophy that conclusions in
philosophy are tentative. This implies that philosophy shares with modern science that
no conclusions are so permanent as to be immuned to further correction or inquiry.
This is where both scientific and philosophical knowledge differ from Revealed
knowledge. This type of knowledge is considered as the final word of God Almighty,
which cannot be subjected to empirical tests or rational analyses. An aspect of the
curriculum where revealed knowledge is common is religious studies, whether
Christian or Islam. Now, the very nature of this subject requires that we do not pretend
to support what we teach with proofs or reasons. Doing this can lead to serious
consequences. The teacher needs only to present the materials as given and make the
students see them as knowledge that is beyond human understanding and which on
account of that is accepted by faith.
4. Intuitive or Insight Knowledge
It is knowledge that is acquired directly by an immediate contact of the mind with the
object without going through the process of reasoning. It comes as a flash into the mind.
It can come in form of inventive intuition when in a flash, a certain bright idea comes to
our mind as a kind of vision. Archimedes was reported to have had a vision of the law of
floatation in a flash while taking his bath. He was so overwhelmed by the vision that he
rushed naked to record such a very important insightful knowledge before it escaped
his memory. Musicians and artists do enjoy such intuition occasionally, and the result is
beautiful peace of artwork or music. For example, the celebrated Hausa musician, Alhaji
Muhammadu Shata, of blessed memory, was reported not to have written his beautiful
songs. On the stages, he produces his songs. His choice of words, praises that appeal to
his listeners and patronisers come to him as a vision. He produced many songs, which
by his own admission, during his life time, that he could not exactly say how many of
such songs he made. All he could remember was that there were many of them. In
intuitive knowledge we do not prove or even acquire what we know, we simply
discover it without labouring for it or reasoning about it. It comes simply and suddenly
as an insight. Now, can insightful or intuitive knowledge be considered knowledge and
what are its implications in education? First, insightful or intuitive knowledge can be
considered knowledge once the insight or intuition can be proved empirically or
substantiated with adequate reasons. If these cannot be done, what we have, may only
amount to a feeling or opinion and never knowledge. As for the second question, we
concede that this type of knowledge has great value in education. This is particularly so
because most scientific discoveries have been the products of insight or intuition. The
educational value of this is that as teachers, we should always encourage our students to
always listen to their inner voice or flash of ideas. Putting these down and trying to
prove them either empirically or rationally should be the next step. In all, such flash of
ideas could form a useful source of classroom discussion or even students’
experimentation?
Conditions of Knowledge
In an attempt to answer these questions with regards to what constitute knowledge, A.J.
Ayer(1955) gave three conditions of knowledge as follows:
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 What one said to know be true
 That one be sure of it (ability to justify)
 That one should have the right to be sure.
The words that stand distinct in Ayer’s conditions of knowledge are: certainty, and
justification for knowledge. Knowing is being in the appropriate position to certify or
give one’s authority or warrant to the truth of what is said to be known. The man who
has a true opinion is the man who has the right to be sure. I know, therefore, is related
to I guarantee. Similarly, Austin (1961) says: If you say you know something, the most
immediate challenges take the form of asking: Are you in a position to know? That is
you must undertake to show not merely you are sure of it, but that it is within your
cognizance. What is the implication of this? The implication of this is that a person who
knows has cause to be sure, certain, and to guarantee what is known. To know is
stronger than to believe or hold an opinion. This is because knowledge enlarges and
enriches one’s ideas, choices, alternatives and initiatives to make an action deliberately.
Roderich Chisholm (1963) on the other hand says that a person can be said to know
something if he believes it, if he is justified in believing it, in the sense that his believing
it is reasonable or acceptable. From the foregoing, it is clear that belief is not the same
as knowledge because knowledge must be based on conclusive evidence and it must be
certain. Belief, in contrast, is not based on conclusive evidence. For instance, if I hear
over the radio that someone is dead, I cannot say that I know that the person has died. I
can only say that I want to believe that he is dead, since I heard that over the radio, since
my evidence is the news broadcast from the radio. This is not conclusive evidence.
Knowledge, however, entails belief in the sense that a person cannot say that he knows
something but that he does not believe it. I know it but I don’t believe it, is an
incongruous statement for anybody to make. It makes sense however, to say I do not
know it but I believe it. Belief can pass into knowledge. What was formerly an object of
belief can become an object of knowledge. This happens when what was formerly
believed becomes justified. There were many beliefs, which became either justified true
knowledge or refuted as false through ample evidence. For instance, before Copernicus,
the earth, it was believed, was the center of the solar system and all other heavenly
bodies revolved around it. Copernicus’ work refuted the belief with the discovery of the
sun as the center of the solar system and which all other planets revolved around.
Today, it is a justified true knowledge. What are the implications of all the conditions of
knowledge earlier examined for teaching and learning? The first implication that readily
comes to mind is the inculcation of a strong knowledge base, which can be proven,
justified and which is true and acceptable. Secondly, the teacher should help the learner
to distinguish between knowledge and belief, knowledge and opinion. Children and
young adults hold many beliefs and opinions which they can neither ascertain their
truth nor reach conclusive evidence of such beliefs or opinions as to become objects of
knowledge. Teachers in the process of teaching could help learners to become objects of
knowledge. Teachers in the process of teaching could help learners to overcome such
problems through questioning and probing. Such questions, especially hypothetical
ones, could trigger some thought processes and reflections on the part of the learners
which could lead to a reversal of such opinions or beliefs in light of new evidence which
are conclusive and justified. In science teaching, the inculcation of free inquiry,
formulation of hypotheses, by students, and attempt to resolve the truth of such
hypotheses helps in building strong knowledge base. This holds more promise for
developing scientific attitude in young learners than the routine verification in the
laboratories that characterize the teaching of science subjects in schools and colleges.
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Epistemology & Education
Epistemology and education are tacit companions since both are primarily the act of
knowing. Epistemology is the motor of education in a sense because it drives the
educational process. Whatever educational theories and practices one employs will be
consistent with his or her theories and practices of epistemology. Epistemology has a
direct impact upon education on a moment-by-moment basis. For example,
assumptions about the importance of various sources of knowledge will certainly be
reflected in curricular emphases and teaching methodologies. Because Christian
teachers believe in revelation as a source of valid knowledge, they will undoubtedly
choose a curriculum and a role for the Bible in that curriculum that differs substantially
from the curricular choices of nonbelievers. In fact, the philosophic worldview of their
faith will shape the presentation of every topic they teach. That, of course, is true for
teachers from every philosophic persuasion and thus constitutes an important
argument for educating Adventist youth in Adventist schools.
1.2. ONTOLOGICAL ISSUES
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Thirdly, the school stands out as the most formidable agency in the transmission of
specialized knowledge to the learners. This type of knowledge can be distinguished
from common knowledge of every day experience. Such common knowledge includes,
for instance, such knowledge as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Or the
knowledge of how to eat or take bath. This type of knowledge does not require going to
school as they can be acquired through interaction, imitation and initiation. But the
knowledge of the “higher you go, the cooler it becomes, i.e. temperature drops by 1°F
after every 300metres of ascent” is specialized knowledge. It is this type of knowledge
that requires the rigor of evidence, certainty and justification and truth of what is
claimed to have been known. The point to emphasize here is that teachers in schools
and colleges in the process of transmission of specialized knowledge should ensure that
the conditions of knowledge highlighted are fulfilled and justified for reasonable
acceptance by the learners. This may not only foster strong knowledge in learners, but
the knowledge so acquired will have more lasting memories in the minds of the
learners.
Criteria for Knowledge
Bamisaiye (1989) in her contribution to what constitutes knowledge, enumerated five
criteria for knowledge: viz: existence, certainty, validity, veracity and utility. What does
each of these terms convey in relation to knowledge?
 Existence: This means that knowledge should have existential reference. In
other words, what should constitute knowledge should be that which exists. The
geography teacher for instance teaching the relief features of Africa should make
reference to such features that exist. If he makes reference to Kilimanjaro
mountain, it is with the understanding that Mount Kilimanjaro exists somewhere
in Africa. What does not exist should not constitute knowledge.
 Certainty: This means that knowledge should be validly proved. We have
treated this condition of knowledge earlier.
 Validity: This means that knowledge should not be self-contradictory.
 Veracity: This means knowledge expresses truth. Falsehood does not constitute
 knowledge. It is the truth inherent in knowledge that makes it reliable and
certain.
 Utility: This is to say knowledge is either useful in its direct benefit to the
knower or in its potential for creating further knowledge.
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Introduction
Ontology is the study or concern about what kinds of things exist - what entities there
are in the universe. It derives from the Greek onto(being) and logia (written or spoken
discourse). It is a branch of metaphysics, the study of first principles or the essence of
things. Ontology is the theory of objects and their ties. It provides criteria for
distinguishing different types of objects (concrete and abstract, existent and nonexistent, real and ideal, independent and dependent) and their ties (relations,
dependencies and predication).
Etymology
From onto-logos, the science of being. The Latin term ontologia was felicitously
invented in 1613, independently, by two German philosophers, Rudolf Gockel
(Goclenius) in his Lexicon Philosophicum and Jacob Lorhard (Lorhardus), in his
Theatrum Philosophicum, but first entered general circulation when popularized by
Christian Wolff in his Latin writings, especially his Philosophia Prima sive Ontologia of
1730. The first known English use of the term "ontology" is 1720. General as distinct
from special metaphysics. More limitedly, the list or table of basic kinds of entities.
Attributively, as in "Quine's ontology," the basic kinds of entities assumed by a given
philosopher. In Ingarden's philosophy, the study of all possible general arrangements of
the world, by comparison with metaphysics which concerns only what actually exists.
Recently and loosely, in computer science, a set of categories for programming and data
representation which is independent of particular hardware, software or
implementations."
TYPES/APPROACHES
Formal ontology was introduced by Edmund Husserl in his Logical Investigations:
according to Husserl, its object is the study of the genera of being, the leading regional
concepts, i.e., the categories; its true method is the eidetic reduction coupled with the
method of categorial intuition. The phenomenological ontology is divided into two:
 Formal, and
 Regional, or Material, Ontologies.
The former investigates the problem of truth on three basic levels:
 Formal Apophantics, or formal logic of judgments, where the a priori conditions
for the possibility of the toxic certainty of reason are to be sought, along with
 the synthetic forms for the possibility of the axiological, and
 "Practical" truths. In other words it is divided into formal logic, formal axiology,
and formal praxis.
Descriptive ontology concerns the collection of information about the list of objects
that can be dependent or independent items (real or ideal).
Formalized ontology attempts to constructs a formal codification for the results
descriptively acquired at the preceding levels.z
Concepts:
Essential
ontological
Principal questions of ontology include: dichotomies include:
1. "What can be said to exist?"
1. Universals and particulars
2. "What is a thing?"
2. Substance and accident
3. "Into what categories, if any, can we
3. Abstract and concrete objects
sort existing things?"
4. Essence and existence
4. "What are the meanings of being?"
5. Determinism and indeterminism
5. "What are the various modes of
6. Monism and dualism
being of entities?"
7. Idealism and materialism
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BASIC ISSUES DISCUSSED IN ONTOLOGY
1. The Problem of Being
For Parmenides whatever exists is being. To him, being is one, eternal and unchanging.
Aristotle made reference to this being as God who is the pure being. St. Thomas Aquinas in
a characteristic Christian metaphysics of being maintains that God is being par excellence.
The Scholastic philosophers made a distinction between necessary being and contingent
being. A necessary being owes his existence to no other being outside himself. A
contingent being is not responsible for its own existence, and does not contain within
itself the sufficient reason for its existence. Philosophers are divided over this
metaphysical issue of reality. Some see being as whatever exists, while others take a
mystical approach and see it as a hidden, mysterious reality which is both immanent and
transcendent, and which is the source of all things.
2. The Problem of Substance
This metaphysical problem has continued to attract the attention of philosophers.
Aristotle distinguished between substance and accident. Substance is whatever exists on
its own, while its opposite, accident, is whatever cannot exist on its own but only inherent,
in other things. According to John Locke, when we look at things what we see are actual
qualities, colour, height, size etc. But we know qualities cannot exist on their own as they
must be existing in something which supports them. This is how we come to form ideas of
substance.
3. The Problem of Essence and Existence
J.P. Sartre’s main contention is that existence precedes essence, as opposed to traditional
western philosophy, which gives primacy to essence over existence. Philosophers are
divided over which comes first? Is it existence or essence? This is the standing
controversy.
4. The Problem of Universals
Philosophers in succession hold that things such as beauty, justice, goodness, whiteness,
humanity etc are universals. They are universal concepts and not just ideas in the mind.
We recognize them in things that exhibit them, and this means that they are real, though
they are not physical. Socrates was the first philosopher in the West to articulate the
issues of universals. He insisted on the distinction between the universals and the things
that exhibit them.
5. The Problem of Appearance and Reality
It is a truism to say that appearance deceives, and that our senses often deceive us. We
cannot therefore always take things as they appear to us, nor can we always rely on our
senses, since they sometimes deceive us. Parmenides, Plato and Rene Descartes mistrust
senses as a means of acquiring knowledge. For instance, Betrand Russell says, we assume
as certain many things which on closer scrutiny are found to be so full of apparent
contradictions that only a great amount of thought enables us to know what is it that we
really may believe. The controversy here is whether appearance is the same thing as
reality or appearance is one thing and reality is another.
6. Problem of Unity and Diversity
It is true that unity and diversity are observable in the universe. How is it that there is a
basic unity in the midst of amazing diversity of things in the universe? The Ionians, the
earliest philosophers in the West, were struck by the unity as well as diversity of things in
the universe. These philosophers adopted a monistic explanation and held that all these
are basically one though in various forms. In Western Philosophy, three approaches have
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been adopted, namely; the monistic, the dualistic and the pluralistic approaches so as to
explain the problem of unity and diversity in metaphysics.
7. The Problem of Change and Permanence
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9. Problem of Mind-Body Interaction
The question of the nature of the human mind and its relation with the body has long been
a controversial issue. Different philosophers have conceived mind differently. Plato,
Augustine, Aquinas and Descartes conceive the mind as a separate substance that exists
on its own without the body. Others like David Hume and Betrand Russsell have denied
that the mind is a separate substance that can exist independently of the body. This
problem, like other philosophical problems, still remains unsolved to the satisfaction of all
philosophers.
10. The Problem of Freedom and Determinism
It is commonly believed that man is free; that he makes use of his freedom the way he
likes and is therefore held morally responsible for whatever he does. The theory of
determinism however denies that man is really free. According to this theory,
determinism also is known as fatalism. The future is irrevocably fixed and man can do
very little to change it. Logical determinists claim that every future event is caused and so
it must either occur or not occur and so what we call history is the manifestation of divine
will. Albert Einsten, the greatest scientist of the last millennium, argued along these lines.
In presenting the position of freewill, Enoh (2001) argued that it does present a direct
opposition to determinism. According to him, the position recognizes that man lives in a
world that is orderly and stable and therefore having laws, which control the flow of
things. Man cannot therefore be an exception and this subjects him to these forces. To this
aspect, his actions are to some degree determined. He then concludes that what gives man
dignity as a human being is his capacity to transcend the bonds of such determinism and
choose certain cause of action.
1.3. AXIOLOGICAL ISSUES
Axiology is the study of values. It is the branch of philosophy that is concerned with
various criteria, which underline the choices we make, or with the factors, which affect
our desires, interest, needs, likes, performances, (Enoh, 2001). As highlighted earlier, man
is a valuing animal. He prefers some things to others. Man has likes, dislikes, preferences.
What do we value most? We value things like good health, happiness, humanness, family,
marriage, e.t.c. Some of these things are values intrinsic. For instance, happiness is not a
material value, but we all inspire to be happy in life. Similarly, good health gives value to
life. We also value material things like money, good house, sometimes leading to primitive
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acquisition of wealth. Axiology as a branch of philosophy that tries to evaluate the various
basis or grounds of our interests, choices, preferences, wants and desires. As a rational
animal, man reflects on these wants, desires and preferences. Sometimes reason may
2
One of the earliest problems in Western philosophy is the problem of change and
permanence. Which of the two elements, i.e. change or permanence is primary? Heraclitus
and Parmenides held extreme positions which subsequent philosophers tried to reconcile.
While Heraclitus held that change was the basic feature of the universe, Parmendies held
that permanence was the primary feature. Here lies the controversy.
8. The Problem of Causality
Cause is that which is responsible for bringing something into existence. The statement,
“every thing has a cause” is taken to be of universal application. Since there is no event
that has no cause, nothing ever happens without cause. Scientists tell us that the universe
is an orderly cosmos, not chaotic universe where anything can happen. In other words it is
a universe governed by laws and things happen only according to these laws. This is the
basic presupposition of modern science, and all that scientists do, is to understand these
laws so as to know the kind of causes that can produce certain kinds of desirable effects.
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compel man to abandon some of his interests, desires and wants. For instance, the pursuit
of pleasure. Pleasure may lead to destruction. It is transitory and short lived. A typical
example is the pleasure a drunkard enjoys in the act of drinking. Immediately the
glittering pleasure disappears and the man comes back to senses, displeasure and
unhappiness set in. On the other hand, happiness is more permanent and worthy than
pleasure. What are the components of axiology? Axiology is divided into two components;
ethics and aesthetic. Ethics is a normative science of human conduct. It describes the way
things ought to be. Ethics can be equated with logic. Ethics deals with the norms of right
conduct. The concept of man reveals that man is a rational animal and is also capable of
human desires, emotions, attitudes and passions. Philosophers are divided on whether
morality is a function of reason or a function of passions. While some hold that morality is
a function of reason, others maintain that morality is a function of passions. Joesph
Omoregbe (1993), a contemporary philosopher faulted the early philosophers on the
basis of morality. He contends that morality is the integrated function of both reason and
the passions. He argues that the right understanding of man’s nature is necessary for the
right understanding of morality. From this perspective both the supra human beings and
infrahuman beings are outside the sphere of morality. The supra human beings are
outside because they are disembodied spirits without passions, while the infrahuman
beings are outside the moral sphere because they are non rational. Both rationality and
passions are essential ingredients of morality. Man is the only being that combines
rationality and passions; hence, moral sphere, is uniquely human. Man is therefore a
harmonious blend of passions and reason. What then is the purpose of ethics?
The Purpose of Ethics
Ethics is the systematic study of the norms of human behaviour. The purpose of studying
these norms is to ensure that human behaviour conforms to them. The study of ethics can
be likened to the study of logic. The study of logic does help one to think more correctly
and avoids fallacies and the study of theology helps one to deepen one’s religious outlook.
The same applies to ethics. The study of ethics helps to elevate one’s moral standard. A
training in ethics should enable us see the defects in our own and other people’s conduct
and to understand exact nature so that if the desire is there, we are better able to set
things right in our own conduct and make profitable suggestions to others. It does not
follow, however, as of necessity that those who did not study ethics might not attain a high
moral standard, or the study of logic is a precondition for correct reasoning, implying that
those without the knowledge of logic do not think correctly. Plato’s famous saying that
“knowledge is virtue and ignorance is vice” is worth revisiting here to buttress the
importance of the study of ethics for the upliftment of high moral standard. He who knows
is more likely disposed to doing the right thing than he who does not know. Aesthetic
deals with the norm of beauty. In other words, this branch of ideology is concerned with
appreciating beauty in nature and art. It attempts to evaluate the various criteria of beauty
that is a justification we make for preferring a certain work of art to another, (Enoh,
2001). It is in the very nature of man to appreciate beauty in the work of art, in man,
music etc. It is in the light of satisfying man’s quest for beauty that the display of works of
art are organized at local, national and even at international levels. In the same vein,
beauty contests have become a common place in our modern world to satisfy the crave for
beauty and its appreciation. The next question is what is the relationship between
axiology and education?
Axiology and Education
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As we have seen earlier, axiology is the study of value and value in turn is what we want,
cherish, desire, need, appreciate or our preference. Viewed in this perspective, education
is a value, both intrinsic and extrinsic. It is intrinsic because it is preferred rather than lack
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of it. It is positive and implies a positive state of mind, it is commendatory. To say that one
is educated is to imply that one has attained high position of honour and respect not for
any material thing or instrumental thing. Education is also a value extrinsic when viewed
for its material end. It elevates one, gives recognition, prestige, provides avenue for social
mobility, status, fat salary and a host of material benefits associated with education. The
most important however, is the intrinsic value of education for according to R. S. Peters
(1966) it is a worthwhile activity. The importance of education to man cannot be over
emphasized. This explains why it is linked with human survival, as man cannot survive
without some form of
education. One of the distinguishing features of man from other lower animals is the
acquisition of education as man is the only animal that receives education. Man has so
many attributes, which include being a social animal, a rational being which has
implications for axiology. It is through education man gets fulfillment of these qualities of
humanness. It does not follow as of necessity that man will always behave rationally or
take into consideration others in the society. This brings about the role of education. The
chief and most fundamental function of education is to shape man by drawing out and
developing what is distinctively human in him. Education aims at the perfection of the
individual through the location, manifestation and development of his potentialities as a
human being.
Ethics and Education
Ethics as we have seen earlier is concerned with the study of human conduct, human
behaviour and action. It is concerned with what is good as distinct from what is bad, what
is right and what is wrong? What is duty and what is obligation? How are all these related
to education? Firstly, let us begin with the popular saying of Plato that knowledge is virtue
and ignorance is vice. We educate man to enable him understand the positive and negative
aspects of life and be responsible for choosing any. This is because Socrates and Plato
argue that evildoers are suffering from ignorance. Knowledge helps to unveil us of
darkness of ignorance. Man, as we saw earlier in this unit is the most favoured of all
creatures because he is the only one that receives education. This makes him more to live
by certainty than by chance. Knowledge enables man to control his environment through
his interaction to suit his purposes. Education helps man to appreciate other people in the
society, commity of nations and the human race as a whole. Man is educated to benefit
himself and benefit the society. This helps man to develop social attitude and values which
are important in the sustenance of the individual and the society. The development of
positive social values and attitude helps to improve his personality and character which
are the hallmark of all educated person. Man is a social animal who is not capable of
solitary life. By implication, he lives in the society and abides by the societal demands.
Every society where man finds himself is built on the principles of morality as its
foundation. Since man is capable of being good and bad, he needs to be prepared to do
good at all times through education. This is what makes education a value laden
enterprise because it aims at the betterment of man in order to live a better life in the
society.
Aesthetics and Education
This component of axiology as we saw earlier, attempts to evaluate the various criteria of
beauty that are our justification for preferring certain works of art to others. How is this
component of axiology applied to education? As we all know, our degree of appreciation of
beauty differs from person to person depending on the quality of perception of the
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individual The quality of education, to a large extent, gives meaning to our appreciation of
a piece of work of art or culture for example. For instance, the colonial masters and indeed
writers did a great deal to project the superiority of their works of art and culture to the
detriment of African works of art and culture. However, since independence in 1960, there
has been a commensurate effort to reconstruct Africa’s past glory, works of art and
culture. This has gone a long way in injecting renewed hope and appreciation in the
African works of art, culture and beauty.
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5
EDUC:201 PHILOSOPHICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION-II
UNIT II: WESTERN SCHOOLS OF
PHILOSOPHY
PREPARED BY: DINESH KUMAR K
2.1. EXISTENTIALISM
Introduction
Existentialism is a way of philosophizing that may lead those who adopt it to a different
conviction about the world and man’s life in it. Existentialism is mainly a European philosophy
that originated before the turn of the twentieth century, but became popular after World War II
(1939 – 45) The seeds of existentialism may be traced back to an earlier period
of the history of philosophy. During the 18th century reason and nature were given more
importance, objectivity was very much emphasized, leading to industrial and technological
developments and science was given utmost importance. From the scientific viewpoint, man
was also regarded as an object. Man became a slave to machines in developing industrial
society. Against this situation existentialism emerged as a protest against the society and
asserted the supremacy of individuality of man. The existentialist philosophy is not a creation of
any single philosopher. The existentialist writings scattered in the works of many philosophers,
the important ones of which are : Friedrich Nietzsche, Soren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel,
Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, KarlJaspers, Abbagnamo, Bardyaev and Albert Camus
etc.In American education, such people as Maxine Greene, GeorgeKneeler, and Van Cleve
Morris, are well-known existentialists who stress individualism and personal self-fulfillment.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
Existence precedes Essence : This philosophy begins from man, but from man as existent
rather than man as a thinking subject, having a definite nature or essence. A man first exists,
encounters himself, and defines himself afterwards. Existence comes before man is set with
value or essence. It is because to begin with man is nothing, has no essence, he will be what he
makes of himself. Man defines himself in his own subjectivity, and wanders between choice,
freedom, and existential angst. Existentialism often is associated with anxiety, dread, awareness
of death, and freedom.
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6 person is his freedom –unfettered and
Man’s Freedom: The basic feature of human
unrestrained. Society and social institutions are for the sake of man and not vice versa, as
6
Importance of Subjectivity: The Danish philosopher S Kierkegaard has said that truth is
subjective, truth is subjectivity: objectivity and abstraction are hallucinations. Existentialism is
the philosophy of subject rather than of the object. Each individual by probing into the depths of
one’s subjectivity can discover the truth of one’s being an discover his authentic role in life.
This is a creative process which gives rise to fresh insights.
believed by idealists and others. There is no “general will” to which the “individual will” is
subject.
Criticism of Idealism : Existentialism has emerged and developed as a reaction against
idealism. Existentialist philosophers are highly critical of idealism and conceptualism. They
criticize idealist’s contention about universal element and man’s good being subject to general
good. They regard the search for essence a mistaken pursuit and according to them it is not the
essence but existence which is real.
Criticism of Naturalism: The existentialist philosophers are also critical of the philosophy of
Naturalism. According to naturalists, life is subject to physic – bio – chemical laws, which in
turn, are subject to the universal law of causation. Human acts are mechanical as the actions of
an animal. This, however, is anathema to the existentialists and they stoutly defend the freedom
of man. As a matter of fact, man is so free, according to J. P. Sartre, that he is fearful of his
freedom.
Criticism of Scientific Culture: With tremendous progress in science and technology, rapid
industrialization and urbanization have taken place. This has given rise to crowded towns in
which individual is lost. Everything is done or happens on a large – scale and all personal
Values, individual likes and dislikes are altogether lost sight of. Today, it is not the individual
who chooses his end; rather all decisions are made by computer or statistical laws and data.
Thus, science has made the value of man negligible. This is why the existentialists are opposed
to scientific philosophy and culture.
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Chief Exponents of Existentialism
 Soren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) is regarded as the father of modern existentialism and
is the first European Philosopher who bears the existentialist label. In his view,
subjectivity and intensity should be priced as the criteria of truth and genuineness. We
touch reality in intense moments of existence especially moments of painful decision.
These moments are characterized by deep anxiety, and life is known in such moments
and cannot be reduced to just system of ideas.
 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900) is regarded as a key figure in the rise of
existentialism. According to him Christianity is to be overcome by putting in its place
the doctrine of Superman, that is, man surpassing himself.
 Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976) in his book Being and Time, gave a very impressive
analysis of human existence, the prominence of the important themes of existentialism
like care, anxiety, guilt and above all death is brought out here.
 Jean – Paul Sarte stressed that man’s existence
precedes his essence. “Man is nothing
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else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore
nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.”
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Attention on Human Weakness and Security : In this scientific life of today, the individual is
leading a life of tension, worries, frustrations, fear and sense of guilt. His individuality is getting
continually blundered, therefore for security of individuality the individual should be given an
environment free of worries, anxieties and tension. Thus, existentialism is a philosophical
movement that is generally considered a study that pursues meaning in existence and seeks
value for the existing individual. It, unlike other fields of philosophy, does not treat the
individual as a concept, and values individual subjectivity over objectivity. As a result,
questions regarding the meaning of life and subjective experience are seen as being of
paramount importance, above all other scientific and philosophical pursuits.
Some recurring themes in existentialism:
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EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EXISTENTIALISM:
The object of education is to give man the unity of truth…In the field of education the
contribution of existentialism is as follows :
 The aim of Education : Existentialists believe that the most important kind of
knowledge is about the human condition and the choices that each person has to make,
and that education is a process of developing consciousness about the freedom to choose
and the meaning of responsibility for one’s choices. Hence, the notion of group norms,
authority, and established order – social, political, philosophical, religious, and so on –
are rejected. The existentialists recognize few standards, customs to traditions, or eternal
truths; in this respect, existentialism is a odds with the ideas of idealism and realism.
 Total Development: The existentialists have aimed at total development of personality
through education. Education should aim at the whole man. It should aim at character
formation and self – realization. In the existentialist classroom, subject matter takes
second place to helping the students understand and appreciate themselves as unique
individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Since feeling is not divorced from reason in decision making, the existentialist demands
the education of the whole person, not just the mind.
 Subjective Knowledge: The present age of science has made too much of objective
knowledge, so much so, that the term has come to mean unreal, on-sense, ignorant and
irrelevant. The existentialists rightly, point out that subjective knowledge is even more
important than objective knowledge. They rightly hold that truth is subjectivity. It is a
human value and values are not facts. Reduction of values to facts has led to widespread
loss of faith in values. Therefore, along with the teaching of science and mathematics,
the humanities, art, literature should be also be given suitable place in curriculum at
every stage of education. Most of the ills of the modern man are due to over – objective
attitude. This requires a subjectivist correction in the light of existentialist ideas.
 Importance of Environment : The present industrial, economic, political and social
environment is valueless. Therefore, it helps confusion and corruption, tensions and
conflicts. The existentialists seek to provide an environment proper to self –
development and self – consciousness. This environment in the school requires
contribution from humanities, arts and literature. These will help in the development of
individuality in the educand so that he may cease to become a cog in the social wheel.
Rather he should develop to a self – conscious and sensitive individual.
 Child – Centred Education : Existentialist education is child – centred. It gives full
freedom to the child. The teacher should 8help the child to know himself and recognize
his being. Freedom is required for natural development. Education should convert
imperfection into perfection. Education should be according to the individual’s needs
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Themes such as freedom, decision, and responsibility are prominent in all existentialist
philosophers. These matters constitute the core of personal being. It is the exercise of freedom
and the ability to shape the future that distinguishes man from all other beings that we known
earth. It is through free and responsible decisions that man becomes authentically himself.
Another group of recurring existentialist themes includes such topics as finitude, guilt,
alienation, despair, moods, changing feelings emotional life of man and death. Discussions of
these have not been prominent in traditional philosophy, yet they are discussed at length in
existentialism. For the existentialist man is never just part of the cosmos but always stands to it
in a relationship of tension with possibilities for tragic conflict.

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
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
and abilities of the child. The relation of the child to himself should be strengthened by
education.
Curriculum: Existentialists prefer to free learners to choose what to study and also
determine what is true and by what criteria to determine these truths. The curriculum
would avoid systematic knowledge or structured disciplines, and the students would be
free to select from many available learning situations. The learners would choose the
knowledge they wish to possess. The humanities are commonly given tremendous
emphasis. They are explored as a means of providing students with vicarious
experiences that will help unleash their own creativity and self –expression. For
example, rather than emphasizing historical events, existentialists focus upon the actions
of historical individuals, each of whom provides possible models for the students’ own
behaviour. Existentialist’s approach to education is almost an inversion of the realist
approach. In the field of curriculum while the realists exclusively emphasize science, the
existentialists find out that science and objective education severs our relation with
ourselves. Science cannot help in inner realization and achievement of peace. This,
however, does not mean that science education should be ignored. It only means besides
science the curriculum must include humanities, ethics and religion. In keeping with this
viewpoint contemporary engineering colleges have included some philosophy, ethics
and social studies, in their curriculum. Without this synthetic approach to curriculum the
aim of character formation and personality development will be defeated.
Learning Experiences : An existentialist curriculum would consist of experiences and
subjects that lend themselves to philosophical dialogue and acts of choice making.
Because the choice is personal and subjective, subjects that are emotional, aesthetic and
philosophical are appropriate. Literature, drama, film – making, art, and so on, are
important, because, they portray the human condition and choice – making conditions.
The curriculum would stress self – expressive activities, experimentation, and media
that illustrate emotions, feelings and insights. The classroom would be rich in materials
that lend themselves to self – expression, and the school would be a place in which the
teacher and students could pursue dialogue and discussion about their lives and choices.
The Teacher : According to the existentialists the teacher creates an educational
situation in which the student may establish contact with himself, become conscious of
it and achieve self – realization. This requires existential approach in the teacher
himself. He should also have an experience of self – realization so that he may be
capable of guiding students in this process. The teacher’s role is to help students define
their own essence by exposing them to various paths they may take in life and creating
an environment in which they may freely choose their own preferred way. Existentialist
methods focus on the individual. Learning is self paced, self-directed, and includes a
great deal of individual contact with the teacher, who relates to each student openly and
honestly.
The student : The student should feel completely free for realizing his ‘self’. Under the
guidance of the teacher, the student should try to realize his ‘self’ through introversion.
The student accepts the discipline prescribed by the teacher and does not become
irresponsible. The purpose of freedom given to him should be to enable him to effect the
full development of his individuality.
Religious and Moral Education : The existentialists particularly lay emphasis upon
religion and moral education. Religion allows a person to develop himself. Religious
education gives him an understanding of his existence in the cosmos. It shows the
religious path of self – realization. It also9makes him capable of utilizing faith in self –
development. Moral education is closely related to religious education. Both develop the
inner self and help in the realization of the infinite within the finite.
Critical Evlauation
Some critics (mainly traditionalists or Conservatives) claim that existentialism as philosophy
for the schools has limited application because education in our society, and in most other
modern societies, involves institutionalized learning and socialization, which require group
instruction, restriction on individual behaviour and bureaucratic organization. Schooling is a
process that limits students’ freedom and that is based on adult authority and on the norms and
beliefs of the mass or common culture. The individual existentialist, exerting his or her will and
choice will encounter difficulty in school – and in other large, formal organizations.
2.2. REALISM AND EDUCATION
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Realism in Philosophy
Realism, with its assumption of an external world existing quite independent of the human
mind, has been widely accepted throughout history. In some form or other it has had almost
universal acceptance among Western thinkers; in fact, realism was not seriously questioned
until the seventeenth century. Most men think of themselves as existing in the midst of a world
of objects that are independent of them. The mind and the external world interact, but this
interaction does not affect the basic nature of the world. The world existed before mind was
aware of it and will exist after mind ceases to be aware of it. Let us be clear about the meanings
of the terms real, reality, and realism. The real is the actual, or the existing; the term refers to
things or events that exist in their own right, as opposed to that which is imaginary, or fictitious.
Real refers to what is? Reality is the state or quality of being real or actually existent, in contrast
with what is mere appearance. In a popular sense, realism may mean devotion to fact, to what is
the case, as opposed to what is wished, hoped, or desired. In philosophy, however, the word
realism is used in a more technical sense. Realism regards the world of physical reality as the
truly fundamental thing in experiences. It thinks the physical world alone is 'objective' and
'factual' world is something which can be easily accepted as it is. The realist regards the
personal wants and feelings as 'subjective', 'subordinate' and 'secondary.' A realist is also called
sometimes a 'Physical realist', a 'materialist', a 'positivist', or a believer in 'naturalism'. Quite
contrary to idealism, realism regards the worldly realities of everyday life as true. Realism is
not prepared to accept the existence of any Infinite or Absolute mind as the First cause of the
Universe. Realism believes that mind has originated in the course of evolution as anything else
in the world. It is as much or less real as any other thing in the universe. Realism cannot accept
anything unless it can be tested by observation and experiment. It stands for a scientific outlook
of life. Hence it denies transcendentalism. It is satisfied with "physical environment and the
sense perceivable conditions of experience." Realism is quite conscious of stern facts and
realities of actual situations. It gives no place to sentimentalism and the imaginary. The attitude
of most scientists closely fits in with the standpoint of realism. The content of the physical
sciences is the reality for the scientist. So is the case with the modern realist. The realist
believes that in order to reach the level of real knowledge one must analyze and experience
down to the level of sensations, and if it is done there
can be no difference of opinions. Realism
1
starts with undeniable certainties and tries to build
0 up a body of systematized knowledge which
is certain and objective and agrees with the standpoints of physical sciences. Realism disregards
everything subjective personal and emotional, except in study of psychology from the
10
Realism is not a new concept or school in philosophy. Realism is the instinctive belief of man
and it is, therefore, as old as man and thus it has always had its impact on education in human
history, though it was not properly recognised as such in early days of human civilization.
Hereunder an attempt is being made to briefly discuss the concept of realism in philosophy.
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Meaning and Definition of Realism
Realism, in its strictly philosophical sense, is the position that the objects of our senses are real
in their own right; they exist independent of their being known to, perceived by related to mind.
For the realist, the universe is so inexorably "out there" that the only thing we can do is to come
to the best terms possible with it. The realist attempts to do this, not to interpret the world
according to his special hopes or unverified beliefs. However, for many realists there are mental
events or mental entities, as well as physical ones, that are recognized as real quite apart from
any ideas we may have regarding them. British realist, John Macmurray, says: We cannot get
away from the primary fact that there is a distinction between things and ideas. For ordinary
common sense an idea is the idea of something, a thought in our minds which represents the
things that it is the idea of. In that case the thing is the reality while the idea is merely "how the
thing appears to us." Our thought must, therefore, adapt itself to things if it is to be proper
thought, that is to say, if our idea is to be true. If the idea does not correspond with the thing of
which it is the idea, then the idea is false and useless. thing will not accommodate itself to our
idea of it. We have to change our ideas and keep on changing them till we get them right. Now,
such a common sense way of thinking is essentially realist, and it is realist because it makes the
'things' and not the 'idea' the measure of validity, the centre of significance. It makes the thing
real and the idea the true or false appearance of the things. In discussing the psychological
genesis of positions other than realism, Macmurray says that, since the philosopher is so
concerned with ideas, he tends to emphasize the world of ideas or thought. Since thought tends
to be important to him, he naturally, though mistakenly, comes to think that ideas have a reality
not found in things. Another realist, Alfred North Whitehead, sets forth his reasons for
believing that the things we experience are to be distinguished clearly from our knowledge of
them. In defending the objectivist position of realism, which he says, is adapted to the
requirements of science as well as to the concrete experiences of mankind, Whitehead makes
three affirmations. First, we are within a "world of colours, sounds, and other sense objects."
The world is not within us, nor does it depend on our sense perception. Second, historical
knowledge discloses long ages in the past when no living beings existed on earth and when
important changes or happenings were taking place.
Third,
1
one's activity seems to transcend the self and to1 find and to seek ends in the known world.
Things pave the way for our awareness. A "common world of thought" seems to imply and
require a "common world of sense." An idealist's view of realism is presented below. In
11
behaviourist point of view. Realism tries to see things as they are, and to understand reality in
its own colour without any fear or favour. Realism looks at human beings as it would look at
any other material object. It tries to explain the mind and its knowledge in terms which may be
easily compared to those machine. For nearly a century realism has ousted idealism from
psychology, because it has used the methods and principles of physical sciences. The three
realist movements in psychology associationism, behaviourism and connectionism are an
eloquent testimony to this. Realism believes that the regularities of the material environment are
the chief source of all human experience. So the problem of values should be approached more
or less in the same way as we approach knowledge i.e., by objective understanding of facts and
events for which people express desire, admiration, dislike and disapproval. Under the pressure
of "Scientific investigations" some realists will not feel shy in doing away with values entirely
regarding it "as purely arbitrary." We find this attitude in some of university departments of
social sciences today. The great contribution of realism is in terms of a world-view which is
physical, orderly and which can be understood and examined by men who themselves are
subject to same precisions simply because they are also parts of the same universe. The great
contribution of idealism is in terms of a world-view which is largely spiritual and orderly, and
which can be understood by person who themselves are spiritual and who possess some of the
attributes of the cosmic Person.
essential agreement with the statements of Macmurray and Whitehead, William Ernest Hocking
says: Realism as a general temper of mind is a disposition to keep ourselves and our preferences
out of our judgment of things, letting the objects speak for themselves. If we can say of idealism
that it has a tendency to read the mind into nature, realism is in this respect its precise opposite.
In the interest of allowing every object its full distinctive flavour, realism is inclined to de
personalize or dementalize the world, to see things starkly and factually in a spirit which it
conceives to be a once more objective and more scientific than that of idealism. Realism is a
term that covers many different trends or types of philosophies that have certain basic tenets in
common. At least three tendencies are evident in modern realism. There is, first, a tendency
toward materialism in some of its modern forms. For example, mechanistic materialism is a
realism as well as a materialism. Second there is a tendency toward idealism. The basis of
existence may be thought of as mind or spirit that is an organic whole. In his Personal Realism
James B. Pratt sets forth such a form of realism, which may be hard to distinguish from some
types of objective idealism. Third, there are many realists who claim either that reality is neither
physical nor mental but some underlying neutral substance (neutral monism) or that reality is
pluralistic and consists of many type of entities, of which mind and matter may be only two. In
this chapter the pluralistic type of realism receives greatest attention, since it appears to be the
dominant trend today. On the basis of above details of realism we may briefly conclude as
follows: Meaning of Realism—Etymologically Realism means 'About a thing' or 'Concerning
some object'. Hence, it is an angle of vision according to which things as we see and perceive
are realities. Realists firmly hold knowledge acquired through senses only is true. Hence, what
we perceive and see by our own senses is real in nature and the only true entity of the world.
Difference between Realism and Naturalism—Both Naturalism and Realism believe in the truth
and reality of the material world. The difference between the two is mainly that while
Naturalism emphasizes the ultimate truth and reality of the matter and material objects. Realism
does not bother about the ultimateness of the reality of material objects. It is concerned with
them as they are in existence, Difference between Realism and Pragmatism—Both Realism and
Pragmatism emphasize the importance of experience. Like Pragmatism Realism also firmly
holds that real knowledge cannot be gained without experience. The difference is that Realism
believes in traditions and facts with which the true and real knowledge is linked up, while
Pragmatism is a dynamic process and gains true knowledge of the material world by activity
and consequent experience. Chief Protagonists of Realism are Irasmus, Rebellias, Milton, Lord
Montaigne, John Locke, Mulcaster, Bacon, Ratke, Comenius, White Head and Bertrand
Russell.
Definition of Realism
The following definitions are being given to make the meaning of Realism more clear:
 "Realism means a belief or theory which looks upon the world as it seems to us to be a
mere phenomenon." —Swami Ram Tirth
 "The doctrine of realism asserts that there is a real world of things behind and
corresponding to the objects of our perceptions." —J.S. Ross
 "Realism is the reinforcement of our common acceptance of this world as it appears to
us." —Butler
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Humanistic Realism: Protagonists of Humanistic
Realism firmly believed that education
1
should be realistic. Such an education only can promote
human welfare and success. To achieve
2
this aim of education, they advocated the study of Greek and Roman literatures as they were of
opinion that those literatures contained all the essentials for success and happiness in life. In
12
FORMS OF REALISM AND THEIR IMPACT ON EDUCATION
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Social Realism: Social Realism aims to make human life happy and successful by fulfilling the
needs of society. Hence, the upholders of this ideology condemned cramming and giving full
importance to society and the social environment, they emphasized the attainment of real
knowledge. They opposed mere academic and bookish knowledge and advocated that education
which was useful to life and practical in nature. In other words, education should promote the
working efficiency of the individuals. According to them the curriculum should include
Geography, History, Arithmetic, Law, Diplomacy, Warfare, Horseriding, Dancing, Gymnastic
exercises etc. so that social qualities are promoted and developed. According to these scholars,
school do not discharge this responsibility well, because they only impart bookish and purely
academic education. Hence, they prescribed Travelling, Touring, Observation and experiences
for really useful and effective education. Confirming this view J.S. Ross writes—"The social
realists, looking askance at a bookish studies, stressed the value of direct studies of men and
things having in mind chiefly the upper class, they advocated a period of travel a grand tour
which would give real experience of the varied aspects of life".
The following are the noted advocates of Social Realism: (a) Lord Montaigne (1533-1552).
Lord Montaigne was a famous French educationist. He has described his ideas about education
in his three books namely—(1) "Of Pendentry", (2) "Of the Education of the Children" and (3)
"Of the Affection of Father to their Children." According to Montaigne, the purpose of
education is to develop intelligence and self-discrimination in children so that they are able to
lead their lives smoothly arid successfully. Thus, he opposed knowledge for the sake of
knowledge and advocated knowledge to be useful and purposeful to social life. He condemned
cramming and upheld learning by experience. He also opposed repression in discipline and
prescribed tours and journeys for children. He was of the view that children should learn first
their own mother-tongue, then language of the1 neighbours and last of all Greek and Latin
languages. About the method of teaching Lord Montaigne
has written—"A boy should not so
3
much memorize his lesson as practise it. Let him repeat it in his action." (b) Joint Locke (16351704). John Locke was a famous English educationist. He has described his thoughts on
13
their view there was no problem of life over which these literatures had nothing to say. Without
their study real aim of life could not be achieved. In this way humanistic Realism, believed that
the study of Greek and Roman literatures was very essential for individual, social and spiritual
development as this study would lead to all
human welfare and happiness. The notable protagonists of this philosophy were the following
scholars: (a) Irasmus (1446-1536). Irasmus was a resident of England. This English scholar has
written two books, namely—(1) "System of studies" and (2) 'Ciceronianism'. He condemned
unrelated and narrow educational system and advocated broad and liberal education. Irasmus
has himself written—"Knowledge seems to be of two kinds, that of things and that of words,
that the word comes first that of things more important." (b) Milton (1608-1674). Milton
belonged to England. He was not only great poet and a man of literature but was also a great
philosopher and educationist. His ideas about education are spread out in his book namely—
"Tracts of Education." Opposing emotion charged education, he laid great stress upon liberal
and complete education. Milton has himself written—"I call therefore a complete and generous
education that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices
both private and public of peace and war." Really Milton was a man of religious nature. Thus,
he advocated that education should impart knowledge about God and foster a love of Him in all
children. He also opposed mere academic education and insisted that education should give
knowledge of things and objects. For this, he emphasized physical education and advocated
walking and touring for physical health and well-beings. It may be noted that Milton opposed
the education of the masses. He structured a curriculum for children of the age group from 12 to
21 years and included in it Language, Literature and Moral Education as main subjects and
physiology, Agriculture and Sculpture as subsidiary subjects.
education in his famous book "Some thoughts Concerning Education." According to Locke, the
aim of education should be to inculcate in children virtue, wisdom, breeding and capacity to
learn. He also laid stress on physical, moral and mental development of the child. He believed
that the mind of a child is a clean slate on which only experiences write. He believed education
by a private tutor and insisted upon a pleasant and lively method of teaching which stimulates
motivation and interest in the children. He advocated education through the mother tongue and
insisted that only those subjects should be included in the curriculum which are individually
and socially useful.
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The following are the main advocates of Sense Realism: (a) Mulcaster (1530-1611).
Mulcaster belonged to England. He worked as Headmaster in different schools for 37 years. His
books namely—(1) 'Elementarie' and 'Positions' contain his ideas about education. According to
him "The end of education and training is to help nature to her perfection." He advocated the
aims of education as physical and mental development of children and achieved fullest
development of child's nature. He was deadly against the current education of his times. Thus,
he emphasized that education should be child-centred and must be imparted through the
medium of mother-tongue. He was deadly against any forced impression upon the mind of the
child and advocated the development of intelligence, memory and sense of judgment. Mulcaster
upheld the great importance and use of psychological methods of teaching and laid much
emphasis on the training of teachers in methods and techniques. For this he advocated that at
the primary level mother tongue, reading and writing, music and painting and other like
subjects should be taught to children whereas at the secondary stage, scientific, subject should
find proper place in the curriculum. (b) Faucis Bacon (1562-1623). Francis Bacon belonged to
England. He was a famous man of literature, a writer and a philosopher of eminence. His
thoughts about education are found in his books namely—(1) "The New Atlantis" and (2)
"Advancement of Learning." Bacon has written—"The object of all knowledge is to give man
power over nature." Bacon advocated that education which makes a child useful for society. He
believed that this aim, as he sees it, cannot be 1achieved by the current system to education.
Hence, the whole system of education should be4 changed and reorganised as a scientific and
inductive system of education. In other words, Bacon introduced inductive method of teaching.
In this method the child is free to observe and experiment by means of his senses and limbs.
14
Sense Realism: Sense Realism developed in the 17th century. This ideology had some roots of
the modern education of today. It's protagonists uphold that knowledge primarily comes
through the senses, not from words. As such, in the education of the child, his ears, mouth, skin
and limbs should be freely used to the maximum. Without exercising his sense organs, no
knowledge will be gained by the child. The fact is that upholders of Sense Realism were
powerfully influenced by the scientific researches, discoveries and inventions of the 17th
century. Their thinking was totally revolutionised. They came to believe firmly that all
knowledge originates from the external nature. Hence, education should adopt real and effective
methods instead of artificial techniques. Truths can only be gained by observation and contacts
between sense and external objects. This is the natural way of being educated. This education
should provide more and more opportunities to the child to observe and study natural
phenomena and come in contact with external natural objects through his senses. Then he will
be able to gain knowledge of natural objects, natural phenomena and natural laws. Through the
efforts and criticisms by the Sense Realists of the prevalent educational system, new changes
and revolutionary transformations affected the system of education. Some of them are: (1)
Mother-tongue as the medium of instruction, (2) More importance to observation of Nature and
study of scientific subjects in place of languages, literature and humanities, (3) More emphasis
on useful and practical education, (4) Help from psychological findings and researches, and (5)
Deductive method more important than inductive method.
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Neo-Realism: This ideology has more importance in the field of philosophy and science than in
education. According to Rusk—"The positive contribution of neo-realism is its acceptance of
the methods and results of modern developments in physics." Neo-realism believes that like
other rules and procedures, rules and procedures of science are also changeable. They are valid
only in certain conditions and circumstances. When those circumstances change, the rules also
change. The protagonists of neo-realism emphasize both the education of arts and sciences.
Notable among these neo-realists are the following: (a) Whitehead. According to Whitehead the
consciousness, and the unconsciousness, the movable and the immovable are each an organism.
Education should give the childfull knowledge of an organism. Whitehead further advocates
that side by side with the scientific values, one should also understand fully well the other
values also. Qualities propounded by these values should also be understood fully well. Making
his purpose clear Whitehead writes —"When you understand all about sun, all about the
atmosphere, all about the rotations of earth, you may still miss the radiance of the sun set." (b)
Bertrand Russell. The foremost supporter of neo-realism Bertrand Russell also insists upon
education by means of senses. He has emphasized the sensory development of the child. He has
1
also advocated the method of analysis and classification.
He did accept liberal education as the
5 to him, Physics is the foremost subject of
ideal, but gave no place to religion in it. According
study. Russell opposed the kindling of emotional exuberance in children. Thus, Russell opposed
15
Thus inductive method became very popular and lessened the importances Aristotelian
deductive method. In curriculum, Bacon gave place of honour to Science and Observation of
Nature Languages, Literature, Religion and Philosophy were relegated to secondary places. (c)
Comenius (1592-1671). Comenius was a resident of Moravia. He ranks the foremost advocate
of Sense Realism. He asserted that "Ultimate end of man is eternal happiness." Hence, the main
aim of education is to make the child learned, moralist and God-fearing, Comenius believed in
the principle of universal education. Thus, he ridiculed the idea of education for the rich and
well to do only. In his opinion, even the poorest should receive proper education. Hence, he
inspired the preparation of World dictionary. He advocated natural method of education and
considered the inductive method of Bacon as insufficient. According to him knowledge comes
not only through the senses but through man's intelligence and divine inspiration. There should
be a balance among all these mediums of knowledge.
He has propounded nine rules regarding the methods of teaching. They are:
 Teaching methods should be simple,
 The purpose of reading material should be told to children.
 Only useful knowledge should be given to children,
 Teaching should be done very effectively,
 General rules should be explained,
 Parts of the material should be taught step by step in a sequence,
 Chronology should be followed,
 Various parts of subject matter should be discussed clearly, and
 Teaching should be continued till learning is achieved.
According to Comenius Nature does its work according to a time table and stage. Thus, first
mother-tongue should be taught to child and then other subjects. There should be a link between
the classes to enable the child to learn step by step. Comenius was totally opposed to any form
of repression and physical punishment. To him, education should follow a universal pattern.
Thus, he advocated a synthesis of educational psychology, educational organisation and
educational methodology. His ideas about education were later accepted and developed further
by Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Herbart. We see that modern education shows the impact of the
ideas of Comenius in one form or the other. It is why Comenius is called the father of modern
education.
the kindling of emotional exuberance in children. Thus, Russell writes—"First and foremost,
there must be as little emotional strain as possible in connection with the acquisition of
knowledge.... Emotional strain is the chief cause of harmful fatigue."
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REALISM IN EDUCATION
We have seen that naturalism entered the educational field by protesting against the training of
children into artificialities of life, similarly, realism entered the field as a protest against the
1
narrowness of the bookish, sophisticated and abstruse
curricula. Realism holds that education
should be closely related with the actual realities 6of life in all conceivable aspects.
16
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF REALISM
The fundamental principles of Realism are given below:
 Phenomenal World is True. Realists believe in the truth and reality of the matter. To
them, there is no world beyond this. Hence, unlike Idealists who believe in another
world, the Realists have no faith in other world beyond this life. J.S. Ross has rightly
said—"Realism simply affirms the existence of an external world and is therefore the
antithesis of subjective Idealism."
 Senses are the Doors of Knowledge. Realism believes that senses are the doors or
gateways of knowledge. The impressions and sensations which result from our contacts
with external world through our senses result in Knowledge which is true and real. The
neo-realist Bertrand Russell, in his book "Analysis of Mind", writes—"I contend that
ultimate constituent of matter are to atoms.....but sensation. I believe that the stuff of our
mental life... consists wholly of sensations and images."
 Theory of Organism. According to realists conscious and unconscious things form an
organism. Thus, Whitehead writes—"The universe is a vibrating organism in the
process of evolution. Change is the fundamental feature of this vibrating universe. The
very essence of real actuality is process. Mind must be regarded as the function of the
organism."
 Opposition of Idealism. There is no place for imagination in Realism at all. Thus,
Realists assert that there are no such entities as God, Soul or the other world. They are
mere figments of human imagination. Hence, having no faith in the existence of God,
Soul and their interrelationship, Realists assert that the scientific realities of matter and
its attributes are true and real.
 Man is a Part of Material World. According to Realists, man is a part of the material
world. He is endowed with sense organs and the mind through which he attains the
knowledge of the real external world.
 Emphasis on Experiment. Realism lays emphasis on observation and experiment.
According to this philosophy, no experience can be accepted as true unless it is analysed
and classified in totality.
 Importance of Present Applied Life. According to Realism, spiritual world cannot be
understood by means of senses. Hence, the existence of God, Soul and spiritual values
are mere creations of man's imagination. They cannot be real and thus realisable. No
body should bother about Heaven or Hell but emphasize and believe in the physical and
material existence. Realists lay emphasis upon the moulding and directing of human
behaviour as conditioned by the physical and material facts and objects of the present
human life. This only promotes human welfare and happiness. In his book
"Philosophical Basis of Education" Rusk writes—"The aim of new realism is to
expound a philosophy which is not inconsistent with the facts of common life and with
the development of physical science."
Realism holds the view that education should try to give all those skills and knowledge to the
individual which are necessary for a happy living in the society.
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Characteristics of Realistic Education: The chief characteristics of realistic education are
given below:
 Based on Science. The supporters of Realism emphasized the importance of useful and
purposive education. They advocated the inclusion of scientific subjects in curriculum
and in place of academic and artificial education, they laid stress on the natural
education which gave birth to Naturalism. Thus, the emphasis on scientific education is
the first characteristic of realistic education.
 Emphasis on Present Life of Child. The second characteristic of realistic education is
to make the present life of child as the focal point of educational system. As we know
the fact that Realism was born as a reaction to excessive Idealism, it opposed the
academic education of mere ideals and values and emphasized the immediate real and
practical problems of day to day living which only can promote individual good and
welfare. In other words, the present life of the child is the centre of all educational
activities.
 Emphasis on Experiment and Applied Life. The third characteristic of realistic
education is emphasis on experiments, experiences and application of knowledge learnt.
It lays great stress on learning by doing, by developing creativity and urge of practical
work in children so that they are able to 1solve their immediate practical problems and
7
lead a real successful life.
17
Realism and Aims of Education: The following are the aims of realistic education:
 Preparing the Child for a Happy and Successful Life. The first aim of realistic
education is to prepare the child to leada successful and happy life. Thus, education
should be such that the child is able to solve his problems of life successfullyand lead a
happy life promoting the welfare of society as well.
 Preparing the Child for a Real Life. The second aim of realistic education is to
prepare the child for a real and practical life. Realists believe in the reality of knowledge
of external material world gained through senses. Thus, they wish to prepare the child
for the real life of material world.
 Developing the Physical and Mental Powers of Child. According to Realism, mind as
well as the physical organs together constitute an organism composed of matter. Hence,
according to his ideology, the third aim of education is to develop the physical and
mental powers of the child so that with the help of his developed intelligence,
discrimination and judgment, he is able to solve all the problems of life successfully.
 Developing and Training of Senses. Realists believe that unless the senses of the child
are developed fully well, he will not be able to have full knowledge about the external
world. Thus, the fourth aim of realistic education is to develop and train the senses of
the child through varied experiences.
 Acquainting the Child with Nature and Social Environment. According to Realism,
a child is related both to the external Nature and the social environment. Hence, the fifth
aim of education is to provide the child full knowledge of both the society and the
external nature so that he is able to strike a balance between the two.
 Imparting Vocational Education. According to Realism, education should be a
practical utility to child. Since the problem of livelihood is the main problem of life
these days, so according to his ideology, the sixth aim of education is to provide
vocational education to the child.

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Realism and The Teacher
The realist teacher is of a dual personality. As a1 realist he recognises all the demands of the
realist pupil. He feels that every aspect of teaching
8 should be dominated by reality. His sole aim
as a teacher is to place before the pupil the clear, distinct and systematic knowledge of science
18
Opposition of Bookish Knowledge. Realists decry mere academic, theoretical and
bookish knowledge which develops only rote memory and encourages cramming. It
does not enable the child to understand the realities of external things and natural
phenomena. According of Realists, education should inculcate in the child an
understanding of both the things and the environment. Thus, the slogan of realistic
education is "Not words but things". Such type of education promotes intelligence and a
sense of judgment which the bookish education does not do.
 Limited Freedom of Child- Realistic education realises the prime importance of child.
Hence, according to Realists the child should be given full freedom to develop his self
according to his innate tendencies. But this freedom should promote self-discipline and
self-control. In other words, the child should proceed from ignorance to knowledge
slowly but surely through his own efforts and self-discipline.
 Emphasis on Training of Senses. The sixth characteristic of realistic education is to
train and develop the senses of child. Unlike Idealists who impose knowledge from
above, Realists advocate self-learning through senses which ought to be trained. These
senses are the gateways of knowledge and develop by use and experience.
 Equal Importance to Individuality and Sociability. The seventh characteristic of
realistic education is to emphasize equally the individuality and sociability of the child.
Thus, the aim of realistic education is to develop both the individual self and the society
of which he is an integral part. Bacon clearly asserts that realistic education develops the
individual on the one hand and on the other hand tries to develop society through the
development of social consciousness and sense of service to the individual.
Realism and Curriculum
With the above aims of education in view the curriculum, according to realism, becomes of a
very wide nature. Quite naturally realism emphasises the selection of 'right' subjects. But what
are the 'right' subjects? The right subject is that which gives the best educational results for a
given pupil. Hence in deciding the Tightness or suitability of a subject adequate attention must
be paid to (a) the pupil's previous training, (b) inter-relationships between the parts of the
various subjects, and (c) the social demands for the pupil to be trained. Paying attention to all
these aspects would mean to prepare the pupil for a successful and happy living according to
the realists style. The above indicates that according to the realist curriculum the people has to
study a required number of subjects, because he has to meet certain social demands. Any
subject whether it pertains to the domain of sciences or arts, is not to be included in the
curriculum for its own sake, but it will find a place in it because of its particular utility in the
actual life situation of the pupil. Modern languages may find a place in the curriculum, because
they enable one to read, write and conduct all types of social intercourse; but literature, as such,
will find no prominent place because the realist believes that it is out of touch with the real line
of human advance. Realist's attitude towards such subjects as arts, painting, music and the like
is the same as towards literature. It is hardly necessary too and here the realist's contempt for
subjects under the "sociological group". The realist thinks that subjects under this group are
hardly 'scientific' and 'objective', and so they are prone to create particular biases in the pupil in
the total disregard of the actualities of life.
However, has great admiration for the various branches of science as the most profitable
contents of the curriculum, because it is they who give to the pupil the requisite skills and
knowledge for facing the actualities of self-situations in the world successfully.
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Realism and The Methods Of Teaching
Realism has a definite background and outlook which influence considerably the class-room
procedures and he preparation of textbooks. The method of teaching, according to realism is to
abstract from the personality of both the teacher and the pupils and allow the facts to speak for
themselves. In the process of presenting facts, the teacher is not expected to express his
subjective opinion on the matter. He has to present the facts as they are, and he must not add
anything of his own. The details of contents and the principles of presentation and the emphasis
to be given at places will be determined by the specific nature of facts. The method of teaching
should be strictly objective. The best method is that which is no one's own. Therefore the
teacher should become a faithful translator so that through him the facts themselves may
become real and impress themselves on the pupils. The facts must be presented in a clear and
distinct manner and no detraction from the facts should be allowed. The facts should be
logically classified and one part should lead to another automatically. The realist method of
teaching coincides with the attitude of the scientist as Holt says, "The conscientious scientist....
knows perfectly well that he 'constructs' nothing; and that, indeed, his prime concern is
precisely not to construct anything. It is his purpose
to efface the personal will, and if it were
1
possible he would transcend the limitation of his9sense organs, so as to be an impartial witness
of the events." The realist method of teaching starts with the parts and considers them real in
themselves. It regards the whole as a product of the parts which while contributing to the
19
in an impersonal manner. He will regard knowledge as one and universal. To him it knows no
bounds of colour, race and religion. Therefore, the realist teacher would not like to call French
or German mathematics. The realist teacher tries to present the knowledge of the subject matter
before the pupil in such a way as to make himself one with it. He himself becomes the voice of
chemistry and mathematics and speaks in the class-room to ears which are eager to receive it.
He stands for truth. He has great reverence for fact. Therefore, while presenting the voice of a
subject he keeps his personality away from it, that is, he does not express his personal likings or
dislikings for particular points. The realist teacher desires to make discoveries in his chosen
field and tries to communicate the same to his pupils in an impersonal way. But the realist
teacher realises that it is not his business to be engrossed in making discoveries, because if he
communicates what he has discovered, he becomes partly personal, and he cannot let facts
speak for themselves. The realist teacher realises that an information cannot be given to
students with the expectation that it will be equally intelligible to all. So he must study child
psychology and adolescent psychology and must be able to adapt the material according to the
living interests of his pupils. So in order to be a successful teacher, even on realist lines, he
must humanize his science; otherwise, if the subject is left to itself, it may mean one thing to
one student and another to another. Thus the realist teacher has to go against his own realism.
He must understand how much and what aspect of a material would be intelligible to the pupils
according to their natural subjective bias. Hence he must make the necessary adaptations in
order to make the material intelligible to the pupils. No doubt, the material to be presented has
to be objective, but it must be presented in a subjective manner, otherwise there would be some
pupils in the class to whom the whole process might appear as boring and useless; whereas
some may misunderstand the whole thing presented. Thus as a realist, the realist teacher is
expected, "to sink his personality in objectivity" while making scientific discoveries in his
chosen field; and as a teacher he is called upon to devote his attention in catering to the
subjective aspects of his pupils. The realist teacher must be able to help his pupils making
discoveries, because it is by making their own discoveries that they can learn to stand on their
own feet and proceed further on the path by themselves. Thus the realist teacher appears to be
in a paradoxical position. At first he is expected to make his own discoveries—it means he has
to sacrifice his personal research. The realist teacher is in a real difficulty and there appears to
be no easy way out.
building up of the whole, retain somehow their individual independence. The idealist method of
teaching is just opposite to this. It start with the whole and proceeds analytically down to the
parts. Parts are nothing in themselves, they are something only in relation to the whole. The
realist teacher uses a synthetic method of presentation in the classroom, as well as in the
preparation of a textbook. He begins with 'elements' or 'parts' and tries to show how under given
conditions the 'wholes', the certain secondary entities shape themselves. Given a few pieces of
wood, tools and a carpenter, a table (a whole or a secondary entity) of great beauty may
comeforth. The pieces of wood remain pieces of wood, the tools remain tools and the carpenter
remains a carpenter. However, there is something new, the beauty of aggregation which may
inspire and give joy to any one who looks at it. The pieces of wood were not beautiful in
themselves. The tools were not beautiful in themselves. The carpenter was not beautiful in
himself. Yet there has emerged a beauty, table, which is additional, new and almost incalculable
in terms of its elements—nevertheless factual in essence. This is just what the realist teacher
tries to do in the classroom. With a synthetic method he brings out a beauty out of the parts, yet
the factual nature of the parts is not at all destroyed.
Realism: Interest and Discipline
Realism regards 'interest' as 'subjective' and an illusory state of excitement which may obstruct
an adequate absorption of objective information on the part of the pupil. Therefore a realist
teacher tries to discourage in the classroom all natural expression of interest. He wants that the
pupil should concentrate his attention on the 'work' or the 'duty' to be performed. Thus realism
discourages all tendencies to note objectively fruitful. The realist teacher tries to contact the
objective forces around him in such a way that they may not interfere with the interaction of
nervous system and physical environment. He wants to discipline the pupils into objectively. He
tries to subdue the subjective side of the pupils and wants to expose them to the forces of the
environment. Thus the pupils are disciplined to become a part of the world around them. Thus
we see that realism eliminates interests regarding it as subjective. But realism is very careful
about discipline. To realism the purpose of discipline is to make the pupil submit himself to the
direction of the physical world, because he himself is its physical part. Thus realism wants
sterner virtues in the pupils, because they must be able to face the realities of the physical
world.
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Merits of Realism
Realistic education did not have much impact on the traditional education. Only in England and
Germany some schools were opened to insist 2on religious education and mother-tongue as
medium. Gradually the ideals of Realistic education
permeated the social thinking and beliefs
0
of educationists. Now, we discuss below the chief merits of Realistic education:
20
Realism and School
Realists have different views about school. Some realists do not feel any need of school at all.
They prescribe wide travelling, tours and teaching by private tutors as the best means of
education. On the contrary, other Realists emphasize the importance of school and class
teaching. They regard school as a mirror of society reflecting its true state of affairs. As such,
the school should not only include in its work, all the activities going on in society, but it should
also be well furnished and equipped with all the necessary aids and devices for effective
observation and experimentations by children. According to them, the school in an agency
which meets the needs of the child and the demands of society as well. In short, it is school only
which provides for the fullest development of the child according to his nature and needs. Not
only this, school is the only agency to provide vocational education to prepare the child for
some livelihood. In the words of Comenius-"Schools are true foregoing places of men."

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Realism emphasizes that education should be practical and utilitarian. Now impractical
and useless education has come to be regarded as waste to time, energy and resources
Realism prescribed realistic and useful aims of education. Such aims are directly related
to the needs of the individuals and demand of society.
Realistic education has brought about revolutionary changes in the methods of teaching.
In modern education, the Inductive method has replaced the traditional Deductive
method. In addition Heuristic, Experimental and Correlation devices have come in the
field and accepted by all to be really effective methods.
Because of Realistic education, scientific subject have found an important place in the
curriculum. Thus, people of this age have begun believe that without science, no country
can develop and progress.
In place of repressionistic discipline, a synthetic form of impressionistic and
emancipatory discipline is being accepted by educationists today.
Realistic education emphasised objectivity. The result is that more and more objective
methods of teaching and evaluation are gaming ground today.
Realistic ideology has changed the organisational pattern of schools also. Now they are
becoming centres of joyful activities, practical engagements and interesting
experiments. All children show eagerness to such schools now.
Demerits of Realism
 Realism lays great stress upon physical world. But it fails to answer these questions—
(1) Is there any power behind this physical world? (2) Is this physical world absolute
and supreme? and (3) What are the limits of this physical world? If the supremacy of the
physical world is accepted, then is that the final and ultimate power? Such queries
remain unanswered.
 Realism regards senses as the gate-ways of knowledge. As such, we get knowledge only
after contacts with objects, but how does illusion occur? and how do we get faulty
knowledge?
 Realism emphasizes facts and values them highly. Is then, indiscipline, injustice and
corruption real and true and should be accepted as they are?
 Realism accepts the real needs and real feelings only. It does not believe in imagination
intense emotion and sentiments. These are also realists and genuine needs of the
individuals.
 Realism emphasizes scientific subjects to the neglect of arts and literature. This is
creating imbalance in the total curriculum.
 Realism emphasizes exclusively on facts and realities of life. It does not give any
importance to ideals and values. Denial of ideals and values often creates helplessness
and pessimism which retard growth and development to the individual.
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Introduction:
One of the most influential movements in recent philosophy is logical positivism, which
originated in “the Vienna Circle” in the early twenties. Sometimes also called Logical
Empiricism or Scientific or neo-empiricism Twentieth-Century Philosophical Movement. The
movement gradually spread. In Great Britain at oxford the movement found an able advocate
and strong supporter in A.J. Ayer. The Vienna Circle founded by moritz Schlick. The Vienna
Circle was positively antagonistic to word most of the history of philosophy, finding only
2 stance worthy of respect. The Viennese
Hume’s empiricism and Kant’s anti-metaphysical
1
positivists were chiefly interested in the formal and the natural sciences. They did not identify
philosophy with science, but they believed that it ought to contribute in its own way to be
21
2.3. LOGICAL POSITIVISM
advance of scientific knowledge. They therefore condemned metaphysics because it failed to
meet this condition. According to Logical Positivism, a great deal of philosophical talk was
held to fall into nonsensical category: talk about the absolute, or transcendent entities, or
substance, or the destiny of man. Such utterances were said to be metaphysical; and the
conclusion drawn was that if philosophy was to constitute a genuine branch of knowledge it
must emancipate itself from metaphysics. Prominent members__ Rudolf Carnap, Otto Neurath,
F. Waismann.
Objective of Logical Positivism
1. Influence of mathematics and Logic.
2. Metaphysics must be eliminated. By ‘metaphysics’ the positivists mean any theory of
reality beyond or behind what can be grasped by experience.
3. The emphasis on Logical analysis of language distinguishes this movement from earlier
empiricism and positivism. The task of Philosophy is knowledge, especially of science.
A.J. Ayer was the most famous British exponent of logical positivism.
 Verification Theory of Meaning
 Elimination of Metaphysics
 Linguistic Theory of Necessary Proposition
Logical Empiricism Is quite different from traditional philosophy. It help to understand the
new style of viewing philosophy to contrast it with some of the things he have been seeing in
other philosophies. He have been looking at metaphysical issues such as God, Values, man and
nature of reality. Therefore many instances these issues are regarded as legitimate. Now we are
involved in a philosophical emphasis that regards all metaphysical issues, particularly God,
Values, Human soul, as meaningless. How did it come about? What are the ingredients in such
a position? Another important movement initiated by logical Empiricism was the study of the
role of language. From the study of language and analysis of syntax, structure, and form, it
concluded that there are 2 basic types of sentences.
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Second category: Second category of sentences, or propositions that concerns with the real
world. The real world reflects the world of sense experience. The term “factually determinate
statements were used by logical Empiricist. The truth of these statements is only by appealing
to fact. Factually determinate or statements arise out of experience? are many but the problem
arose concerning- how one could know what was really a factually determinate statement. For
example___ God is good is it a logically determinate statement. Is it a factually determinate one
?the answer came in the acceptance of the verification principle. A statement was true it one
could validate it scientifically. But can the verification principle be applied to our statementGod is good? No one has ever been God or goodness, then such type of statement wasn’t
merely false but literally nonsensical. He metaphysic which included many form of philosophy,
religion and ethics was arbitrarily cut to shreds 2by virtue of the definition of language. Since
philosophy, religion and values were certainly not
2 logically determinate statement and since
neither of thedisciplines could be regarded as an empirical science. Since philosophy doesn’t
22
One is Tautological sentence: The first owed its definition to Wittgenstein other philosophers
called as logically determinate statement. They included all propositions whose truth or falsity
can be determined on the basis of logic for example__ “All bachelors are unmarried” This is a
tautology. It is always true by its definition tautologies or logical determinate statements do
have a problem with them. They may or mayn’t reform to any things real in the world. There
may or mayn’t any bachelors in existence at all. But the statement is true even if non-existence.
This type of statement appears to be limited to definitions, mathematics or abstract ideas
without referring to the world of experience.
contribute take as or meaning but merely has the role of analysing to see if meaning are true,
false or non-sense then it is more different to put together.
Metaphysic of Logical Empiricism: The idea that there is super sensible world which I the
object of inteceutal invitation and is alone wholly real, which was rejected by A.J. Ayer and
other logical empiricists. The rejection of metaphysics based on. No empirical observation
could have the slightest tendency to establish any conclusion concerning the properties or the
existence of super sensible world. Therefore we are entitled to deny the possibility of such a
world and to dismiss as nonsensical. But Ayer doesn’t completely reject that which is nonsensible. Such things as atoms, molecules and electrons. Don’t appear as sensible, nor to do the
symbols that we use daily things such as table, chair, wheals etc. although one cant. See these
things it is reasonable to use them it they can be empirically substantiated. The methodology of
A.J.Ayer leads to the conclusion that all most nothing can be asserted about the reality beyond
the sense experience. The philosophical question on whether reality is one or many is
nonsensical issue there is no empirical situation which could have any bearing on this truth. No
empirical situation which could have any bearing on its truth. A.J. Ayer can give a
phenomenalistic view of the world. One can describe what one sees or experiences although
sense organ Logical positivist must be content with a scientific view of this. Ayer confesses that
philosophy is virtually empty without science . the view of reality found in positivism is another
variety of naturalism.
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Ethics and value education of positive Empiricism
The ethical principles are neither true nor false they are expressions of feeling. Therefore the
theory of ethics is impossible. The question is what the origin of ethical principles is. According
to schlick ethics is a descriptive scientific theory. A person always prefers those conditions that
don’t produce pleasure or pain, good is whatever gives pleasure which is equivalent to
beneficial. A person’s actions are caused by a wish to benefit. So the 1st ethical impulse is an
egoistic one but the motivations to act are n’t static.
They are subject to natural evolution and
2
selection. in a society it is possible that an altruist
3 way of an action is more beneficial than
egoist one. There is a contrast between the very first impulse which suggests an egoistic
behaviour and the tendency to act generated by evolution, which suggests a social behaviour.
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Logical Empiricism’s view about God
There is certain sense of fairness about the view of A.J. Ayer concerning “God”. If all talk
about God is nonsensical, it is equally nonsensical for the atheist to assert that God doesn’t
exist. Ayer claimed that all utterances about the natural God are non-sensical. Arguing for
existence of God is rejected because one must take a leap from the argument to the conclusion
that God exists. For eg. One may argue that certain phenomena exist in the world and this
requires one to believe in God. Does a belief in the world’s phenomena express what is meant
by the word God? Is God equivalent to regularity? No. religious person would admit that this is
all he is claiming for his argument about God’s existence. Ayer advocated that God is it
equivalent of nature and if one is arguing for super sensible definition of God, one loses again.
The supers sensible are not to seen and Ayer concluded that one talking about non-sense. This
leads to the mystical approach to God. The mystic Says he knows God but he can’t discuss
what he knows since it is ineffable and indescribable. The mystic must submit his intuitive
descriptions to the test of verification. But since he can’t stand by his statement as they aren’t’
adequate to deserve his experience’s the mystic is only producing unintelligent statement and
his statement would not stand up to verification and we really have from the mystic is “indirect
information about the condition of his own mind.
This is the origin of ethical principle. Logical positivism as expressed by A.J. Ayer disposes of
value with more sophistication. He contended that ethical discourse fits in 4 main propositions
types.
 First of all, the propositions which express definition of etc, terms, or judgments about
legitimacy of certain definitions.
 Secondly there are propositions describing the phenomena of moral experiences and
their causes.
 Thirdly, there are exhortations to moral virtue.
 Fourthly, there are actual ethical judgments.
Only the 1st type constitutes ethical philosophy. The second type are really in the domain of
sociology or psychology. In other words, if we describe the experience of being mugged or
robbed, this is to be studied by psychology or sociology and no judgment are needed in it about
its rightness or wrongness. The third category of exhortation is nothing more than that of a
parent who tells a child, statement such as-Be good to go to school, Don’t lie to me, etc, the last
one is actual ethical- judgments, really don’t belong to ethical philosophy for eg.. it was wrong
to gas the Jews in world war II one may certainly prove to general satisfaction that Jews were
gassed in world war II. But it was wrong can’t be also proven. what does meant by this
statement. The answer is that it was wrong expresses one’s emotional reaction. There is no way
of scientifically verifying it is wrong and for that reason ethics is just another world for nonsense. Therefore ethical statements are pseudo propositions. They are not saying any sensible
things. Thus logical positivists relegate ethics a traditionally conceived to the discipline of
sociology or psychology where feeling can be studied. Whereas science can’t deal with feelings
emotion etc because these can’t be dead with on the basis of verification.
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Cognitive meaning : Informative meaning and is important for both science and philosophy.
Verification principle is concerned with only cognitive meaning of words. (ii) Emotive
meaning: Concerned with expression, ‘value -judgement, poetry, not for any use either for
science or for metaphysics. Cognitive statements belong to two different kinds of
propositions.(i) Analytic — True/False by virtue 2of meaning alone.(ii) Synthetic — Verification
4
principle is concerned with synthetic/factual proposition.
According to Schlick ‘Meaning of
proposition is the method of its verification’ that is whenever a factual proposition is given we
24
Verification Theory of Meaning
The Philosophical Movement originated from Vienna Circle (in the early1920s) is called
Logical Positivism. Vienna ,Circle was a group of scholars, which were related to different
fields. Two main aims of the Vienna Circle were: To provide secure foundation for- the sciences
 To demonstrate the meaninglessness of Metaphysics (Elimination of
Metaphysics)
The method employed for realizing this double aim was logical analysis, specially language.
The emphasis on logical analysis of language distinguishes this movement from earlier
empiricism (Hume-Psychological analysis of experience) and positivism (Comte. Mach etc.).
Again while earlier positivists objected to metaphysical speculation either because it is
unprofitable or because its truths cannot be proved, the new positivists (Logical positivists)
object to it because logical analysis of metaphysical language convinces them that all
metaphysical propositions are meaningless. To eliminate metaphysics, logical positivists
propounded a theory that is called Verification Theory of Meaning. As the difficulties arose the
theory kept on revising by different thinkers. Therefore, it’s a historical development, gradual
modification of theory of meaning. Schlick:Schlick was the founder of Vienna Circle. Schlick
said that we can make distinction between two types of meaning:-
may know how to verify and by following which procedure we can put them under True/False
category. It is sense experience which decides whether proposition is true/false. This principle
gives not only a criterion of (1) distinguishing significant proposition from nonsensical
proposition but in addition it also tells us (2) meaning of proposition, what meaning constitute
in itself. Because it says method of verification also decides the meaning. A single proposition
may be verified even in both the ways. Logical Positivism, like Kant, accepts distinction
between analytic and synthetic statements. Analytic statement has no factual context. Logical
Positivism says that analytic statement is a statement, which is true by virtue of meaning alone
as — A bachelor is an unmarried male adult. One who knows the meaning of all these words
also knows that this statement is true. Bachelor means unmarried male adult. No other proof is
required. Synthetic statement — like the Rose is red. To know its truth or falsity, one has to do
empirical verification. Verification principle is concerned with synthetic statement.
Problem : A proposition may have two or more meaning, if they can-be verified by-different
method. If method is’ meaning. then proposition will be assumption having more than one
meaning. Thus, there is a need to reformulate the theory. A.J. Ayer : Language. Truth and
Logical proposition is significant if it is either analytic or verifiable by sense experience. If not
then proposition is nonsensical. Since, metaphysical propositions are neither analytical nor
verifiable by sense experience, hence metaphysical statements are meaningless statements.
Metaphysical statements are not false • Out nonsensical. Non-sense means it does not contain
any cognitive meaning. For example ‘God exists’ logical Positivism would say this statement is
as nonsensical as to say — “God does not exist”.
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Strong Verification and Weak Verification: Schilick has formulated verification theory in
strong sense. According to strong verification only those repositions are significant, if we can
conclusively determine the truth or falsity of a proposition on the basis of rise experience. This
is called verification in strong sense. This immediately creates a number of difficulties. What
about the universal proposition of the sciences themselves. No universal proposition can be
conclusively verified? Example - All metals expand
when heated. 3 - Water is H2O etc.
2
Conclusive verification requires that every piece 5of metal anywhere must be separately verified
and then it can be said to be verified. Such universal propositions are not verifiable in
25
Practical Verification and Theoretical Verification
Does verification means verification in practice or we can verify a proposition immediately by
appealing to sense experience (verification in practice). If a proposition is significant only, if it
is verifiable in practice then even most of the proposition of science will turn out to be
nonsensical because at every stage scientist formulate certain theory which can’t be verified by
practice. Example - “There is life on Mars”. (Or the are living beings in outer space). This
statement cannot be verified presently but there is a possibility for practical verification in
future. Logical Positivist is not ready 3 to reject it Because it is verifiable in theory, so it is a
significant proposition. So, according to Logical Positivism, if a proposition is verifiable in
theory though not in practice, the proposition is significant. Though a proposition may not beverifiable by the existing technology but in an advancement in technology in future, if
verification is possible. then it is not nonsensical. If a proposition is verifiable either in practice
or in theory then it is significant, if not, the proposition is nonsensical. Metaphysical
propositions are verifiable neither in practice nor in theory, hence they are nonsensical. God is
not object of sense experience. All religions believe that ‘God exist’. This is a nonsensical
statement. When we analyze Bradley’s statement — “Absolute enters into history but itself has
no history”. We cannot verify it anyway whether it will be today or tomorrow. Therefore, these
are nonsensical as cannot be verified.
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Direct Verification and Indirect Verification
If a proposition is either an observation statement or through senses directly verification.
Example.: It is raining. The wall is red. But there are propositions, which are not observed
directly. To accept only direct verification then many scientific propositions would become
nonsense. Mere direct verification is not sufficient.it requires indirect verification. Ayer :
According to-Ayer, a proposition will be indirectly verified when adding one or more
proposition to it and from this conjunctive propositions. if we deduce a proposition, which
fulfill two conditions.
(i) Deduced proposition must be directly verifiable.
(ii) It should not be deduced from the other proposition alone but with the other related
proposition. As ‘p” is not directly verifiable, ‘q” cannot be deduced alone from “If p then q”.
We combine this with ‘p’ and since ‘q’ is directly verifiable, therefore ‘p’ is indirectly
verifiable. Sir Isaiah Berlin : He criticized this theory. If this form of indirect verification is
accepted, then any proposition whatsoever can be indirectly verified. Example : Absolute is
present everywhere (not directly verifiable) P?Q : If absolute is present every where then grass
is green P : Absolute is present everywhere Q : Therefore grass is green J Ayer : Realizing this
problem Ayer in the second edition of Language, Truth and Logic modified his view.
According to Ayer: the other propositions which are conjoined must be either analytic or
directly verifiable or capable of being independently indirectly verifiable. Ayer was convinced
that this modification is able to avoid Berlin’s objection. Berlin’s example falls in all three
criteria. Alonzo Church: American Philosopher and Mathematician (Book : Introduction to
Mathematical Logic 1949) Criticized this revised formulation of verification theory. Presented a
formula., on the basic of which indirect verification of any proposition is possible whatever the
proposition is. This formula is (~O1..O2) v (O3..~S) O= Observation statement (Here O1,
O2,O3 are observation statements and directly 2verifiable and independent) S=any statement
either of science of metaphysics. This can be indirectly
verified through this formula. Church
6
showed that ~ S or S can be indirectly verified. After this, Ayer himself has accepted that I am
26
strong sense. It would mean that the universal propositions of sciences would also become
nonsensical, if we accept verification in the strong sense only. Schlick. Answered it that the
universal propositions of science-are nonsensical -yet they are important and acceptable as they
arc necessary. He called-them as ‘important non-sense Carl Hempels also arised -some
difficulties regarding this, e.g. “Everyone. Love someone.- It cannot be verified in strong sense.
Ayer : In view’ of these difficulties, Ayer. in-the first edition of ‘Language. ‘Truth and
...Logic rejected the very possibility of verification is strong sense. What is actually required is
verifying in weak sense. According to him not only universal but also particular proposition
cannot be verified in strong sense. If the proposition is verifiable in weak sense then proposition
is significant. A proposition is verifiable in the weak sense if the relevant sense experience can
make it probable i.e. either probably true or probably false. Hence, the truth or falsehood is
probable and not in certain sense. So Ayer initially accepted only verification in weak sense.
Metaphysical propositions are not verifiable in weak sense, so they are non-sensual.
Lazerowitz’s criticism of Ayer. Lazerowitz criticized this view of Ayer. According to him,
Weak and strong are relative terms, if we use one of them we must also use the other\one.
Without accepting strong verification, there is no sense of talking of weak verification. Ayer :
In second addition of “Language, Truth and Logic” in 1946 altered (revised) his view
(position). There is a class of proposition, which can be verified, in the strong sense. This class
of proposition is called Basic proposition. It does not describe anything; it only records the
currently available sense experience. Basic Proposition There is pain in my teeth now this time.
It is verifiable in strong sense. Thus. Ayer accepts - A proposition is significant if it is verifiable
either in strong sense or in the-weak sense.
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 Either it is analytic
 Or verifiable in the practice
 Or verifiable in the theory
 Or verifiable in strong sense
 Or verifiable in weak sense
 Or verifiable directly
 Or verifiable indirectly.
CRITICISM:
 Ayer has said that- “only that statement is meaningful which is either analytical or
empirically verified” But the statement of Ayer is not fit upon his own criteria of
meaningfulness. His statement is neither analytical nor empirically verified that why
meaningless verification principle itself is neither analytical nor verifiable by sense
experience. The principles of verification becomes meaningless upon its own criteria.
 They have overvalued science and failed to recognize that philosophy is science of
sciences.
 According to Russell_ there are some scientific statement which are neither analytical
nor empirically verified but they cannot be accepted as meaningless. E.g. —Due to
explosion of a big hydrogen bomb, humanity will he completely destroyed.
 On the basis of verification theory of meaning„ to say that — “Metaphysics is non-sense
itself non-sense:
 Here question is that what is verified? — Sentence or proposition A sentence is either
meaningful or meaningless but it is not true/false. What is true or false is proposition
expressed by sentence. Sentence is not true or false. No doubt proposition can be
verified. But proposition is nothing but meaning of indicative sentence. To say
proposition is meaningful means meaning is meaningful. If experience means sense
experience only then moral experience, aesthetic experience will become meaningless.
But this cannot be accepted. Why only sense experience — there is no justification
within logical positivism. Since logical positivism ignores this, it becomes one sided.
 Sometimes it is said that when Ayer has accepted the concept of strong verification, then
his theory leads to solipsism because verification completely depends on the knower.
 To Wittgenstein, verification theory can be applied only to factual proposition but
factual. propositions are not the only function of language. Language has many sort of
function; we cannot decide their meaning on the basis of verification principle. Even if
this principle, is admitted, it is a principle of a part of language. This is the reason that
this principle was later on rejected and other principle were advanced.
 According to Latter Wittgenstein, work of language is not only confined to description.
Language is multi-functional. So there is a possibility to accept meaningfulness of other
statements too, which are not describing any fact. Even descriptive parts not always
require verification. Verification requires if there is doubt.
 In place of verification theory of meaning Later Wittgenstein has accepted use theory of
meaning. It is clear that verification principle is not a satisfactory theory of meaning.
Importance - Promotes humanism accepts the potentiality of human beings to solve their
problems. Although verification theory2 cannot be accepted completely or nonerroneously. But it has its own importance.
Due—to this, glory and importance of
7
metaphysics reduced in the field of philosophy and epistemology dominated. They have
tried to separat philosophy from imaginary world.
27
unable to present this theory perfectly. There is some short of problem exist in this theory. It is
not possible to give a clear and precise information of the verification principle.
Logical Positivism: A proposition is significant when
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Linguistic Theory of Necessary Proposition
Logical positivism is an empiricist’s theory, which tries to explain all knowledge in term of
experience. in this context necessary proposition creates problems for a logical positivist. Our
knowledge is based on tense experience, but whatever is known on the basis of sense
experience can never be necessary. Here problem is how necessary proposition can be
accommodated within the framework of empiricism? There are only two possible solutions, to
this problem empiricism.
 The first solution is that the so-called necessary propositions are also based on sense
experience.
 The second solution is that necessary proposition is based on language and nothing to do
with the empirical object. “They have nothing to do with sense control and matter of
fact. Ayer says if both alternative fails then the solution given by the rationalists is the
only viable solution.
The first solution was accepted by J.S. Mill. Mill viewed that mathematical and Logical
propositions are also based on experience. They are inductive generalization based on sense
experience. Then why they are called necessary? Mill says; that these statements are accepted
as necessary because we do not find any exception in this. But logical positivists do not accept
this solution of Mill. In this context, Logical positivist agrees. with “a Kant’s dictum —
“knowledge does not arise out of experience.” Like Kant, they also make distinction between
origin and validity of knowledge. So far origin is concerned, there is no knowledge prior to
experience. Some knowledge is based on experience for its validity, some is independent of
experience. Necessary proposition -ore those propositions, which do not depend on sense
experience for their validity. They accept Kant’s distinction of two judgments — analytic
proposition and synthetic proposition. But the way Kant has made distinction is not entirely
valid. Kant’s criteria applied only to subject predicate proposition and not all proposition like
relational proposition etc. Secondly Kant has used ‘a term contained is’, which is a
psychological metaphor, with no sense. Ayerdays that instead of giving one clearly formulated
criterion, Kant has given two criteria: (1) Logical (2) Psychological Logical criteria suggest that
if the judgment cannot be denied by self-contradiction, it is analytic and if denied then
synthetic. Psychological criteria says that if the predicate concept is contained in the subject on
tent the judgment is analytic, and if the predicate concept lies outside the subject content it is
synthetic. It is so said because the subject is nothing but intention. To say that predicate is
contained in the subject is to lay that the subject intention
of the predicate term is the part of the
2
8
subject intention of the subject term. .Kant believes
that logical and psychological criteria are
identical but are not. He took mathematical proposition to be synthetic, because he applies
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Elimination of Metaphysics
Metaphysical thinking is found in Philosophy from the very beginning. By Meta,physics, the
positivists mean theory of reality lying beyond experience. The ‘fundamental postulate of
metaphysics’ is that there is ‘a super (or hinter) phenomenal reality’ or ‘trans-empirical entity’
(Reality transcending the world of science and common sense, the study of what is beyond the
senses—like God).
Main Questions of Metaphysics
 What is the nature of ultimate reality?
 Is it one or two or many?
 While science tried to study different aspects of reality, metaphysics tries to study
reality of as such as a whole, search (done principle, highest truth, and first universal
principle.
 Whether it is physical or spiritual, how the world we know is related to the reality? How
man himself- is related to reality and how can we know it.
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P. Straw son’s Refutation of Quine’s Criticism
“In defence of a -dogma” is the articles where Straw son criticized Quine. This article is written
by Straw son and Grice. Straw son shows that the high standard that demands for explaining
analyticity is not easy to fulfil. But there is no need of such a high standard. According to
Quine, while explaining the nature of analyticity reference should not be made to a concept,
which: is related to analyticity. Strawson’s view is that on this ground very few concepts can be
explained, other concepts remain unexplained. Due to this reason, any concept is explained in
terms of some other but a related concept. For example,
if the colour red is to be explained a
2
reference must be made to other colours. The same
applies
to analyticity also. Strawson says
9
that the distinction between synthetic and analytics is made not only in philosophy but other
subjects also. The majority of people defend the dichotomy of analytic and synthetic sentences.
29
psychological criteria and not logical. If we analyze the ,-,,) concept of 7 -4- 5, we can say that
5 units are added to 7 units; the actual result is not included in this concept 12. By applying
logical criteria, we can clearly say that the negation of the proposition is self-contradiction. We
cannot say that 7 + 5 `”12. Logical positivist believes that the laws of logic are themselves
3instituted of linguistic usage or consequences of usage of words. To logical positivist we can
accept only the logical criterion and only analytic proposition can be a priori and all ‘synthetic
propositions are a posteriori: There is no proposition of a priori synthetic proposition. It means
that according to logical positivist only analytic propositions are necessary proposition. Logical
positivist have analyzed analytical proposition is terms of meaning of word to them if the truth
jf a proposition is determined on the basis of the meaning of term in which proposition is
expressed, proposition is analytic. If its truth is not determine by meaning of term but sense
experience is used to decide Is truthfulness then it is synthetic. Only analytic proposition are
necessary. The necessity of proposition has been explained in terms of language. Analytic
proposition has no factual content. Their necessity is based on meaning. That is why it is ailed
the linguistic theory of necessary proposition. Ayer says that if a proposition is true merely on
the basis of the meaning of terms which are used to “formulate or express the proposition, the
proposition is analytic. A proposition can be shown to be true or false on the basis of the
meaning of the words/symbols. A proposition is analytic, if and only if it is proved to by virtue
of meaning alone, if not then synthetic. For example, ‘All bachelors are unmarried male adults’.
If we know the meaning of words used to formulate this proposition. we also know that the
proposition is true.. There is no need of extra linguistic proof, language itself is sufficient to
express the meaning. But in The board is white’; empirical verification is required, hence it is
synthetic.
Quine’s refuted this Theory of Logical Positivism
In his famous article -Two Dogmas of Empiricism” (1951), Quine rejected the distinction
between analytic and synthetic proposition and secondly reductionism (object statement can be
reduced into sense data statements –reductionism). To Quine, there are two main defects in the
linguistic theory
 The concepts, in which analyticity is defined, are either themselves not clear or they
involve circularity.
 Logical empiricists reduce object statement into sense data statement. But reduction is
not sufficient.
What is meaning? To Quine, often it is held that meaning is neither a sentence which is using
for the object neither it is circumstance for which sentence is used, it is a third thing. There is no
clear meaning of meaning. If meaning itself is not clear, how can it explicate necessary and
analytic proposition. A proposition is analytic if it is shown be true on the basis of definition of
its terms. An oculist is an eye doctor - Synonymous. Two terms are necessary if they are used in
the same statement then the statement becomes necessary. The whole explanation, to Quine
becomes circular.
All those who accept the distinction generally agree as to which statements are analytic, which
are synthetic and which are doubtful. Thirdly, Strawson holds that though there are difficulties
regarding the formal distinction between synthetic and analytic, but this distinction can be used
in an informal manner. He gives two examples for t!-is purpose. One - My neighbour’s three
year old child understands Russell’s mathematical logic. Second - My neighbour’s three year
old child is adult. The first statement is false on the basis of general experience. The second
statement is conceptually false and it does not require any empirical proof. Similarly, cognitive
synonymy can be explained in an informal manner. If we do not admit synonymy, then two
sentences cannot be said to be synonymous_ If two sentences is not synonymous, the very idea
of meaning will be senseless. Thus, an informal distinction can be drown between analytic and
synthetic sentence
New interpretation of Logical Positivism
In recent year, the scholars of Logical positivism are considerably grown day by day. New
interpretations of Logical Positivism Philosophy have been advocated by Michael Friedman.
The central Philosophical innovation of Logical Positivism isn’t a new version of radical
empiricism but rather a new conception of a priori knowledge and its role in empirical
knowledge. Kantian Philosophy exerted on the origin and development of Logical positivism.
According to Friedman, logical positivism recognized the necessity of non-empirical a priori
principles by means of which scientific theories can receive an empirical interpretation and
therefore can be tested. Friedman calls there principles relatives a priori principles. The
necessity of a priori principles is explicitly recognized by Hansreichenboch. He formulated the
well-known distinction between axioms of connection and axioms of coordination. The former
are empirical laws, which formulated using concepts which are empirically well defined. The
latter are non-empirical principles which give an empirical interpretation to the theory. Every
scientific theory requires a set of axioms of coordination. With respect to a given theory the
axioms of coordination, the theory has non-empirical meaning. For edge, in classical
mechanizes and in special relativity the metric of the space time is an axiom of coordination
that is called Euclidean Structure of the geometry. In the general relativity, on the contrary, the
space time metric is empirically verifiable which is assumed a priori statement. The main
difference between Kantia Synthetic a priori and Reichenbach’s axioms of coordination is that
Kantian Synthetic apriori Principles are necessarily valid while Reichenbach’s axioms of
coordination are subjected to modifications with the evolution of scientific knowledge. For egEuclidean geometry is a priori relatively to Newtonian mechanics while it is an empirical false
theory in general relativity. In Kantian philosophy, Synthetic a priori knowledge has 2 main
features
 First: it is necessarily and univesally valid
 Second: It is transcendental knowledge (beyond sense experience).
Keichenbach accepted the presence of a priori principles which are constitutive of the empirical
objects. But he denied that these principles are unreliable. According to friedman. In carnap’s
Logical syntax of language we find a revival of the relativised a prior in something very like
Keichenbach’s original sense. Friedman suggests that carnap’s L- rule or analytic sentences can
be profitably viewed as a precise explication of Reichenman notion of the constitutive or
relativized a priori.
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Although there is sufficient difference of opinion 3in the representatives of logical positivism,
even then their view-points may be expressed in
0 the following form: (1) The focal point of
logical positivism is to use verification or reliability as a measure so that ‘meaning’ may be
proved true or false. Only that statement is important and meaningful which is perceptual. The
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EDUCATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF THE MAIN IDEAS OF LOGICAL POSITIVISM
statement which can be verified is worth experience. (2) According to verification principle of
logical positivism, if some statement is meaningful, it would certainly be verified and become a
part of experience directly. Logical positivism searches formal and empirical knowledge. From
formal view-point, this knowledge adopts the techniques based on mathematics and languageanalysis. From empirical point of view, all statements of knowledge are to be verified directly.
(3) Logical perceptualism which is a result of unity of logical positivism, scientific empiricism
and scientific revolution, is not a traditional philosophy. Its important contribution is seen in the
following classification:
 Basic (Assumption) knowledge.
 Hypotheses in the field of evolution.
 Procedure
This philosophical thought makes it clear how basic ideas, hypotheses and procedures can be
verified in the field of knowledge and evolution and how they can be classified. Logical
positivism does not make any positive contribution to education, but this thought has made an
important contribution in the field of scientific humanism. This scientific humanism has
improved thinking of logical positivism considerably. Logically positivism is a kind of
scientific method. So it can be utilized in education indirectly. We can take educational
advantage by utilizing of the following two methods :
 Some educational aims and ideals can be formulated by it, because in
evoution,educational aims and ideals can be tested by taking advantage of scientific
empiricism.
 If the knowledge of relationship between end and means is established scientifically,
this philosophy can give us an understanding of educational methods and agencies of
eduction.
Educational Importance of Logical Positivism
Logical positivism can be employed in education in the following fields:
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In the field of language-philosophy, this philosophy can particularly contribute in
language-grammar.
 In the field of science, it can give empirical view-point to the tendency of logic
(reasoning).
End and Means of Education: in the field of education, the ends and means are enalysed as
follows :
 The scientific view-point that has been propounded by logical positivism leaves no
place, for absolute values in philosophy. Only those relative values can be included in it
which are worth verification.
 According to the scientific knowledge of our times, the logical positivism gives a new
form to our emotional and ethical ideas.
 The idea of scientific humanism is the reformed form of logical positivism. It does not
consider the search of absolute truth as its aim. It tries to find out that relative truth
which can be verified experimentally.
 This philosophy makes it dear that ideas given by education should be quite distinct.
Distinct ideas will be those that have been verifIed.
 In education, capacity for uniformity and determination of conclusion shuld be created
through intelligence and reasoning. In other words, argument should not be for
arguments sake, rather is should be to arrive at some conclusion.
 Logical positivism lays more emphasis on factual feasibility and reliability of
3 those facts should be found out which are
knowledge. So in the field of education only
1
proper. They should find out reliable knowledge. In the education-system, the students
should be given only reliable and verified knowledge.
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Logical positivism lays emphasis on objective knowledge. It ignores subjectivity. So
provision should be made for objective knowledge by adopting empirical attitude. The
sudents should obtain scientific and practical knowledge of things.
Purposeful behaviour should be developed in children. They should be taught only that
behaviour which serves one purpose or the other in daily life.
Logical positivism also emphasizes moral impartiality. It considers that conduct moral
which is relative and objective. Education should inclucate a tendency of such a conduct
in the students.
Education should endeavour to bring perfection in man. The students should be
provided such an environment that they may move towards their own perfection.
Constructive and useful expression should be created in students. Constructive
Imagination should be developed in them.
If somebody tries to realise his ideal subjectively, there is likehood of his nervous maladjustment. So logical positivism does not give any importance to those ideals which do
not coincide with the present and are difficult and which have no use inphysical life.
In the educational system, children should be given minimum opportunities for
selfcriticism. Logical positivism rejects it altogether, because self-criticism creates
symptoms of mental sickness as mental tension, unrest, fear and frustration in future.
Generally teachers and parents neglects this. They should be attentive to this truth.
Most part of education should be spent in creating scientific interest in children so that
they may find such scientific solutions to their present day problems, as are in the
interest of the nation, society and others. Their research work may be theoretical and
practical both.
The training of analysis of language work is very valuable from educational point of
view because it provides means for the following:
It gives recognition to propaganda work.
b) It determines those definitions which are acceptable to others.
It makes understanding of difference between knowledge and evaluation easy.
It is useful in manifestation of secret word interpretation and expressing its factual
hollowness.
It gives a sort of strength in accepting a good thing.
Logical positivism lays emphasis on the fact that we should test scientific hypotheses
and daily assumptions. Logical positivism is a grammar of science. It emphasizes
analysis of language and denies traditional philosophical ideas. It makes scientific
statement logical on the basis of language analysis, so power of reasoning should be
developed by laying emphasis on scientific attitude in education. The problems that the
children create by wrong use of language, should be solved through language analysis.
It does not give any place to ethics, religion and metaphysics in philosophy. So it
opposes religious, moral and spiritual education.
According to it, the philosophical thought of ‘Scientific Humanism’ is the art of living.
Language-practice is such a laboratory work which makes the scientific statement
logical. So language analysis should be emphasized in education.
Logical positivism gives a scientific base to our expression, whether it is oral or written.
It provides scientifc styles and means for expression of scientific ideas. This enables us
to find solution of our daily problems.
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2.4.MARXISM PHILOSOPHY
Background
Marxism is a philosophy of a system of social and political analysis. Karl Marx took the idea
from Hegel – individual develop ideas to improve and develop society. This idea was further
developed by Marx and Frederick Engels. During industrial revolution the society was dived
into – [owned means of production] and [laborers]. His theory is set in the backgrounds of
French revolution during 19th century. What does Marxism says:- 1) Hegel’s - thesis, antithesis
and synthesis. 2) Class less society 3) Dialectical materialism and historical materialism 4)
Economics is the basis of society, not the ideas. 5) Criticism of religion- the divine theory.Meta
physics 1. Matter is reality-outlook to material world is the conception of nature. 2. Matter is
ultimate real than god; its eternal- god less philosophy 3. Man itself is the product of nature. Productive animal. 4. Life is the product of non living matter. 5. Reason, thought and
consciousness the product of human brain. 6. The mind is the reflection of this material reality.
7. Universe is infinite and it will continue to exist. Believes in Darwin theory of evolution 8.
.Dialectical materialism. Epistemology a. Objectivity of science. Truth of science and discard
all religious faith Perception gives correct impression of things when we directly know them.
True belief, not supernatural becomes knowledge – when it is tested, investigated and proved
by evidences. Knowledge can be applied only to material world. Testing knowledge throughout
the history is valuable source for gaining knowledge. b. Science and practice refine knowledge.
PURPOSE OF RADICAL PHILOSOPHY:
1. To bring about fundamental, social, political, economic changes insociety through education;
2. To change culture and its structure.Learner:
 Equality with teacher in learning process;
 Personal autonomy;
 People create history and culture by combining reflection with action.
 Teacher:
3. Provocateur; suggests but does not determine direction for learning;
4. Equality between teacher and learner.
5. Source of Authority: Socioeconomic and socio-political imbalances.
MARXISM
Marxism is a particular political philosophy, with economical and sociological worldview based
upon a materialist interpretation of history. An analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change,
and an atheist view of human liberation is the result of the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels. The three primary aspects aspects of Marxism are:
Dialectical and materialist concept of history – Humankind’s history is fundamentally that of
the struggle between social classes. The productive capacity of society is the foundation of
society, and as this capacity increases over time the social relations of production, class
relations, evolve through this struggle of the classes and pass through definite stages (Primitive
communism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism). The legal, political,, Ideological and other aspects
(e.g. art) of society are derived from these production relations as is the consciousness of the
individuals of which the society is composed.
The critique of capitalism – Marx argues that in capitalist society, an economic minority
dominates and exploits the working class majority. Marx attempted to argue that capitalism was
exploitative, specifically the way in which unpaid labor is extracted from the working class,
extending and critiquing the work of earlier political economists on value. This forms the
fundamental contradiction of capitalist society. Without the elimination of the fetter of the
private ownership of the means of production, human society is unable to achieve further
development.
3
Advocacy of proletarian revolution – In order 3to overcome the fetters of private property the
working class must seize political power internationally through a social revolution and
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expropriate the capitalist classes around the world and place the productive capacities of society
into collective ownership. Upon this,, material foundation classes would be abolished and the
material basis for all forms of inequality between humankind would dissolve.
Contemporarily, innovative analytical methods of Karl Marx – materialist dialectics, the labour
theory of value, etc – are applied in archaeology, anthropology, media studies, political science,
theater, history, sociological theory, cultural studies, education, economics, geography, literary
criticism, aesthetics, critical psychology and philosophy.
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often
authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in
which all goods are equally shared by the people. The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist
doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the working class.
The year 1848 was also marked by the appearance of The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engels, the primary exposition f the socioeconomic doctrine that came to be
known as Marxism. It postulated the certainty of a communist society, which would result when
economic forces (the determinants of history) caused the class war; in this struggle the
exploited industrial workers would overthrow the capitalists and establish the new classless
order of social ownership. Marxian theories and programs soon came to dominate left-wing
thought. Although the German group (founded in 1847) for which The Communist Manifesto
was written was called the Communist League, the Marxist movement went forward under the
name of socialism.
An economic and social system envisioned by the nineteenthcentury German scholar Karl
Marx. In theory, under communism, all means of production are owned in common, ‘rather
than by individuals’. In practice, a single authoritarian party controls both the political and
economic systems. In the twentieth century, communism was associated with the economic and
political systems of China and the Soviet Union and of the satellites of the Soviet Union.
Communism is a term that can refer to one of several things: a social and economic system, an
ideology which supports that system, or a political movement that wishes to implement that
system. As a social and economic system, communism would be a type of egalitarian
(Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil
rights for all people.) Society with no state, no privately owned means of production, and no
social classes. All property is owned cooperatively and collectively, by the community as a
whole, and all people have equal social and economic status and rights. Human need or
advancement is not left unsatisfied because of poverty, and is rather solved through distribution
of resources as needed. This is thus often the system proposed to solve the problem of the
capitalist poverty cycle. Perhaps the best known maxim of a communist society is “From each
according to his ability, to each according to his need.” This economic model is also referred to
as a gift economy. (This definition is rather too wide for many tastes, since it encompasses, as
Karl Popper has pointed out, the early Christian church, as it is described in the Acts of the
Apostles.)
MARXIST THOUGHT
The best-known form of communism is Marxism and its various derivatives. Among other
subjects, Marxism proposes the materialist conception of history; there are stages of economic
development: slavery, feudalism, capitalism, and communism. These stages are advanced
through a dialectical process, progressing society as history progresses. This progress is driven
by class struggle. Communism is the final form of class society as it results in one class, or
conversely there are no classes as those divisions cannot exist if any one exists.
Although many small communist societies have existed throughout human history, Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engels were the first to devise a rigorous
theoretical basis for communism. The
3
political theory they created, namely Marxism, became
the chief advocate of communism in the
4
modern world. Marxism seeks to explain historical phenomena in terms of class struggle.
According to Marxists, human society consists of a number of social classes, which are
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differentiated by their relationship to the means of production. For example, capitalist society
consists of the bourgeoisie (the capitalists; those who own the means of production) and the
proletariat (the workers; those who must work for wages in order to make a living, because they
do not possess any means of production of their own). One social class is the ruling class, and it
uses its wealth and power to exploit the other class(es). Eventually, one of the exploited classes
rises up to overthrow the ruling class and the existing system, establishing itself as the new
ruling class of a new system (for example, capitalism was established when the bourgeoisie
overthrew feudalism and the feudal ruling class-the aristocracy). The formation of these classes
are explained by Economic Determinism, in which human nature forms these classes in their
will to protect the current modes of production. According to the theory, class struggle is the
engine of a cycle in which socio-economic systems are created, destroyed and replaced.
Marsism identifies several systems that have been created and destroyed by it since the
beginning of human history. However, social classes – and therefore class struggle- have not
always existed. They were created at the dawn of human civilization, when nomadic tribes first
settled down and started practicing agriculture. Before that, human beings lived in a kind of
classless society that can be described as primitive communism. Primitive communism ended
when agriculture created the conditions for private ownership of the means of production
(Which, at that time, simply meant private ownership of 5 cultivated lands). This differentiated
people into land owners and those who needed to work other people’s land for a living and this
in turn resulted in the slavery-based system of the ancient world. That system eventually gave
way to feudalism, which eventually gave way to capitalism. According to Marxism, the class
struggle within capitalism will eventually lead to the proletariat overthrowing the bourgeoisie
and establishing socialism. Socialism, in turn, will result in the gradual fading of social classes
(as the means of production are made public property), which will lead to the final stage of
human society-communisms. This forms the basis for the Marxist foundation for communism.
Communism cannot change into another system because class struggle – the mechanism that
drives such changes-no longer exists.
MARXIST VALUES
Moral Character – A person must be given moral training to subordinate all his interests, desires
and actions to the service of the Communist State and the people, and this is possible only by
inculcating specific values among the school children. Respect for Public Property – Teachers
should uphold the principle by using stories from history, but above all the example. The
teacher must strictly enforce that the child must not harm others by breaking any rules regarding
respect for public property. Respect for Authority – in another moral moral principle which
children must learn early in life. This respect is not to be based upon fear of punishment, but
rather the child should learn to respect the authority of the teacher and others because these
people have been helpful, understanding, fair and firm. Patriotism – the development of a good
moral character is as essential part of the Marxist education. There virtues must be expressed in
an unwavering devotion to one’s country. This Devotion beings with love of parents, relatives,
friends, the local community and then the government and the thinkers and leaders of the stateMarx, Lenin, Station and others. Love and Respect for Parents, Elders and all workersPatriotism is based upon the immediate attachment to parents, friends, relatives and local
environment. But the love of persons is a value worth cultivating for its own sake. Stalin
insisted that “People are the most valuable and most” decisive capital “. Education should play
an important part in fostering love and respect for people. Children should be taught these noble
sentiments through literature, good examples and the practice of manners expressed in word
and deed. This is the true essence of the basic values. Children should be taught politeness,
manners and obedience to elders and teachers. Rudeness
and disobedience should be checked
3
and corrected. Proper training should be given,
5 and in a positive manner, by assigning
responsibilities to the young. Another aspect of developing respect for persons, whether old or
young, should be respect for truth and hatred of lying. From early children should learn to tell
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the truth and never cheat or lie, not only because these acts harm others, but because they
destroy a person’s integrity. The common Good – the common good is ranked very high in
Marxist philosophy. There is public ownership of all land, resources and instruments of
production, horsing, recreation and education. This is achieved through comradeship,
friendship, sharing co- operation, discharging social obligations, Respect for school property,
group work and play; co- educational projects are all aspects of working for the common good.
Discipline – In the Marxist system, discipline in a most important virtue. The school must insist
on discipline not only because it is necessary for life. From early years, children must be
educated in such a manner that a state of discipline will remain as their permanent possession. It
must be self – discipline.
The value of Labour – In Marxism, the true value of any object is be measured by the amount
of human labour which has been performed in its production. Labour is not to be regarded as
something distasteful of unpleasant. On the other hand, labour is to be considered an expression
of the highest aspiration of a human being. Labour is a matter of “honor, glory, valour and
heroism”. It gives man the opportunity to serve his fellow men, thus promoting the common
good.
OBJECTIVES AND AIMS
Under Marxism, the ultimate purpose of education is to strengthen the State and building up of
a classless society. This central aim provides the rationale for the curricula and the teaching
methods in the schools – while teaching, the teacher must have the following goals in mid:
 The development of knowledge in the academic area such as mathematics, science,
foreign languages and history, knowledge is not to e imparted of acquired for its own
shake, it has a social purposenamely the service o f the state.
 Encouraging competence in vocational fields, specially in scientific technology and in
agriculture and technical trades.
 Development of good health habits.
 Respect for Public Property.
 Development of habits of Industriousness and persistence in learning.
 Development of initiative and courage.
CURRICULUM
The doctrines of Marxism are studied at all levels of school and university, as also the history of
the party and the contributions of the leaders of the State. Political economy and political
education are very important subjects. Mathematics and the Science as well as scientific and
technological education are introduced from the very earliest years at School. Geography,
Biology, Geology, Astronomy, Languages and Literature are taught in the first ten years of
school. Youth education and organizations provide life education and life adjustment training
and experience. Humanities, arts, aesthetics are also taught- the performing arts are entirely
cooperative and not competitive – as sports, drama, music. Education Agencies – the state is the
sole agency of education. There are State-sponsored nursery schools in all cities and villages
where very young children of nursery age can be admitted. Mothers are encouraged to
participate in productive work and labour. Mothers also actively participate in political life.
These nursery schools assume the responsibility of the family in providing food, shelter,
exercise and the general physical environment of home for the child. The central authority for
all education in the State, which has absolute power and control of all schools. There is no
decentralization of school administration or educational planning and curricula. The methods of
instruction, textbooks and evaluation systems are centrally controlled and administered by the
suite. There is free and compulsory education for all levels, and student can go to university
depending on his ability, or go to technical or 3trade school. Education It should be set up,
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managed & financed by the state.
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Separation of church from education. Promotion of science and technology because of material
bases. Substructures are developed due to advancement of the science & technology. Manual
work Mass education Monistic state Comprehensive / common school The Marxist approach to
education is broadly constructivist, and emphasizes activity, collaboration and critique, rather
than passive absorption of knowledge, emulation of elders and conformism; it is student-centred
rather than teacher centred, but recognizes that education cannot transcend the problems and
capabilities of the society in which it is location.
Central Aim

Strengthen the state.

Building the class less society

Knowledge is not required for own sake but for the service of the state.
Curriculum

Productive work-vocational education.

Gymnastic.

Study of history scientifically.

Social science to study the conflicts of class struggle.

Practical activities.
Discipline :Rigid
School and administration
 Importance of nursery education.
 State is sole agency of education no decentralization.
 Compulsory education at school stage.
 Free education at all levels v.
 Methods of education, books, evaluation system is centrally controlled and
administered by the state.
 Methods of teaching i. Practical activities. ii. Group work. iii. Scientific approach.
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BUDDHISM
Buddhist education system (200B.C to 200 A.D) was founded by Lord Gautama Buddha.
Gautama Buddha was primarily an ethical teacher and reformer and not a
philosopher. He was concerned mainly with the problems of life. He avoided the
discussion of metaphysical question because they are ethically useless and intellectually
uncertain. He always discussed the most important questions of suffering, its cessation
and the path leading to its cessation. Buddhism encompasses the entire collection of
works by Buddha Shakyamuni and is called the Tripitaka. This can be classified into three
categories sutra (sutta), Vinaya (precepts or rules) Sastra (abhidamma) (Commentaries)
which emphasize meditation, discipline and wisdom respectively. Thus Buddha‘s
enlightenment which he tried to share with all fellow-beings has come to be known as the
four Noble Truths. Four Noble truths are:
 There is suffering
 There is cause of suffering
 There is cessation of suffering
 There is a way to cessation of suffering
Buddhists philosophy of life to get ‘Nirvana‘from suffering is based on the following eight
principles:
 Right Faith (Samyak Dristi
 Right Resolve (Samyak Sankalpa)
 Right Speech (Samyak Vakya)
 Right Action (Samyak Karmanta)
 Right Living ( Samyak Ajiva)
 Right Thought (Samyak Smriti)
 Right concentration (Samyak Samadhi
 Right Effort (Samyak Vyayama)
KNOWLEDGE:
3 as valid means to knowledge: Pratyaksha
Buddhism accepts only two pranama (tshad ma)
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(mngon sun tshad ma, perception) and Anumāṇa (rjes dpag tshad ma, inference).
Rinbochay adds that Buddhism also considers scriptures as third valid pramana, such as
38
EDUC:201 PHILOSOPHICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION-II
UNIT III: INDIAN SCHOOLS OF
PHILOSOPHY
PREPARED BY: DINESH KUMAR K
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from Buddha and other "valid minds" and "valid persons". This third source of valid
knowledge is a form of perception and inference in Buddhist thought. Valid scriptures,
valid minds and valid persons are considered in Buddhism as Avisamvadin (mi slu ba,
incontrovertible, indisputable). Means of cognition and knowledge, other than perception
and inference, are considered invalid in Buddhism.
Apoha: A key feature is how he/she treats generalities versus specific objects of
knowledge. The Nyāya Hindu school made assertions about the existence of general
principles, and in refutation Dignāga asserted that generalities were mere mental features
and not truly existent. To do this he introduced the idea of Apoha, that the way the mind
recognizes is by comparing and negating known objects from the perception. In that way,
the general idea or categories of objects has to do with differences from known objects,
not from identification with universal truths. So one knows that a perceived chariot is a
chariot not because it is in accord with a universal form of a chariot, but because it is
perceived as different from things that are not chariots. This approach became an
essential feature of Buddhist epistemology
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Aims of Buddhist Education
 The goal of Buddha’s teaching-the goal of Buddhist education is to attain wisdom.
 The chief aim of Buddhist education was all round development of child’s
personality.
 The aim of Buddhist Education is to make a free man, a wise, intelligent, moral,
non-violent & secular man. Students became judicious, humanist, logical and free
from superstitious.
 The principal goal of the Buddhist Education is to change an unwise to wise, beast
to priest.
 The Buddhist education system aimed at regaining our intrinsic nature.
 it also teaches absolute equality which stemmed from Buddha‘s recognition that all
sentient beings possess this innate wisdom and nature.
 The chief aim of education was propagation of religion and inculcation of religious
feelings and education served as a mean to achieve salvation or nirvana.
 Preparation for life, there was a provision for imparting wordily and practical
knowledge along with religious education so that when the students entered
normal life they may be able to earn their livelihood.
Curriculum
 The main stress was given to have a clear idea of Tripitaka which consists of Sutta
Pitaka, Binoy Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka.
 The curriculum was chiefly spiritual in nature. So the study of the religious books
was most important.
 Besides these spinning, weaving, printing of the clothes, tailoring, sketching,
accountancy, medicines, surgery and coinage were the other subjects of Buddhist
education.
 At the initial stage medium of education was mother tongue, later it included Pali
and Prakrit
 In later period according to the demand of the society and professional education,
art, sculpture, architecture, medicine also included in the syllabus. Buddhist
Education came out from the religious arena and went out for the benefit of the
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mankind.
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In primary education reading, writing and arithmetic were taught and in higher
education religion philosophy Ayurveda, military training was included. Everyone
was free to choose his subject without any restriction.
 Vocation education was not ignored during the Buddhist system of education. The
monks of Vihar were taught spinning, weaving and sewing in order that they meet
their clothing requirement. They were taught architecture as well. Education in
architecture enabled them to build up new Vihars or repair the old ones. Similarly
the householders following Buddhism but living outside Vihar were given training
in different type of and also earn their livelihood.
Teaching Method
 Verbal Education: Through the art of writing had been well developed up to
Budhist period yet, due to shortage and no availability of writing materials, verbal
education was prevalent as it was in Vedic age. The teacher used to give lessons to
the novices who learnt them by heart. The teacher used to put questions on the
learning the lesson by heart.
 Discussion: In order to win discussion or Shastrartha and impress the general
public, it was necessary to improve the power of discussion. This was also needed
to satisfy the critics and opposing groups and establish one’s own cult. Thus, rules
were framed for discussion.
 Prominence of Logic: The importance of discussion encouraged the logic in the
Buddhist period. The controversial matters could not be decided without logical
argument. Logic was also useful in the development of the mental power and
knowledge.
 Tours: The main of the Buddhist monks was to propagate Buddhism .Hence some
Acharyas like Sariputta, Mahayaggalva, Aniruddha, Rahula, etc gave the importance
to tours for educating people.
 Conference: Conferences were arranged on every full moon and 1st day of month
in the Buddhist sangha. The monks of different sangha assembled and put forward
their doubts freely. The attendance of every monk was compulsory in such
conference.
 Meditation in Solitude: Some Buddhist monks were more interested in isolated
spiritual meditation in lonely forests and caves. Only those monks were considered
fit for lonely meditation who had fully renounced the worldly attraction and had
spent enough time in the sangha and had gained the efficiency for solitary
medications.
 The medium of Buddhist education was the common language of the people.
Some Buddhist monks are more interested in isolated spiritual meditation in lonely
forests and caves. Only those monks were considered fit for lonely meditation who
had fully renowned the worldly attraction and had spent enough time in the
Sangha has gained the efficiency for solitary meditation.
Concept of Teacher
 The teacher himself must spend at least ten years as a monk and necessarily must
have the purity of character, purity of thoughts and generosity.
 Both the teacher and student were responsible to the monastery. But regarding
education, clothes, food and residence of the student monk, the teacher was fully
responsible.
4 treatment of the student whenever he fell
 The teacher was also responsible for any
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ill.
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The duties of the teachers were imparting education to the students, writing Book,
propagation of religion, discussion, and arrangement of debate for the clarification
of serious subjects.
 The teachers were responsible for physical, mental, spiritual and moral
development of the students.
 Teachers loved the students and helped them in every affair. They also took care of
them during their diseases and agony.
Budhist philosophy admit the possible of attaining peace here and now, though, it start
with a pessimistic note. Teacher, therefore, need not have any cry of despair. Bhikshus
were the teacher. Budhist vihar as or monasteries have their methods of Imitation and
training for the apprentices. The preceptor must give his disciple, all possible intellectual
and spiritual help and guidance. There was mutual esteem between the teacher and the
pupil. There relations were like father and son. The teacher was regarded as spiritual
father or intellectual father of the student.
During Budhist period the place of teacher in the scheme of education was very important.
There were the categories of teachers – Acharyas and Upadhayas. According to Sutras
Literature Acharya may admit according to his unfettered discretion, a number of pupils,
who would have to live with him at this house, for a minimum period of twelve years. He
would not accept any fees from the pupils under this instruction. The progress shown by
pupil was the only factor that determined the continence of his apprenticeship.
Student
The Budhist system like the Brahmanical, enjoins upon the pupil the duty of serving this
preceptor as a part of education. The pupils is to rise early in morning from the bed and
give his teacher teeth-cleanser and water to rinse his mouth with; then, preparing a seat
for him, serve him rice- milk in rinse his mouth with; then, preparing as seat for him, serve
him rice milk in rinsed jug, and after his drinking it, wash the vessel and sweep the place.
Afterwards he is to equip him for his begging round by giving him fresh undergarments,
girdle, his two upper garments, and his alms- bowl rinsed and filled with water and then is
to dress and equip himself similarly if he wants to accompany his teacher but must not
walk too far from or near wants to accompany his teacher but must not walk too far from
or near wants to accompany his teacher but must not walk too far from or near him. He is
not to interrupt his teacher in speaking, even if he makes a mistake. There were also rules
for the expulsion of a pupil by his teacher. In five cases a Saddhiviharika ought to be
turned away; when he does not feel great affection for his Upajjhaya, nor great inclination
towards him, nor much shame, nor great reverence, nor great devotion.
Teacher Taught Relationship
 Close , Pure, good and affectionate
 Teacher besides being a scholar of repute must have in himself inspiring ideals.
Like his students the teacher also used to spend life in simplicity, constant study,
celibacy, following ideals and strength of character. Both teacher and student
were required the authority of reason an experience.
 Students were required to maintain the freedom of thought
 Disciplined in matter of morals and conduct v Maintain self-restrained life
Discipline: There was a rigorous discipline which the students had to observe. Students
were expected to live an ideal life in pursuit of Buddha's eight fold Path. He was to observe
ten rules:
 Not to kill any living being.
4
1
 Not to steal.
 Not to tell a lie.
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 Not to eat at improper time.
 Not to take intoxicant.
 Not to speak ill of any body.
 Not to take interest in music, dance, play. Etc.
 Not to use things soft & comfortable bed, consmeties & luxurious things.
 Observe celibacy & to be free from impurity of character.
Pabbaja ceremony: Pabbaja was an accepted ceremony of the Buddhist monasteries.
Pabbaja means going out . According to this ceremony the students after being admitted to
a monastery had to renounce all his worldly and family relationship. An individual
belonging to any caste could be admitted to a monastery and after being admitted he did
not belong to any caste. For pabbaja ceremony the individual had to get his head fully
shaved and put on yellow clothes. In this shape he was presented before the presiding
Bhikshu. On presentation this individual would pray for admission to the monastery. On
his prayer the head Bikshu would administer three basic advices:
 I take refuse with Budha.
 I take refuge with religion.
 I take refuge with the order.
The aspirant for admission used to pronounce these advices very distinctly. Then his
admission was permitted. On being admitted the individual was called a Sharman.
Upasampada ceremony: After pabbaja the Buddhist monk had to undergo the
Upasampada ceremony. This ceremony was different from pabbaja ceremony. It was after
receiving education for twelve years, that it is at the age of twenty years,Upasampada
ceremony was performed. The Sharman has to present himself in front before all other
monks of the monastery. One could be admitted for this ceremony only when the majority
of the monks voted in favour of the same. After this ceremony the Sharman was regarded
as full- fledge member of the monastery. On this occasion all his worldly and family
relationships ended.
Educational Implication of Buddhist Philosophy
 Cosmopolitan: Buddhist education was free from communal narrowness; there
was no favouritism on the basis of caste, creed in the centers.
 Total development of personality: Buddhist education laid much emphasis on
the physical, mental and spiritual development of the novice, even today the aim of
education is integration of personality that can develop the various aspects of the
individual which are interlinked
 No corporal punishment: corporal punishments were absolutely forbidden which
is also very true in the present scenario of education.
 Positivism: Buddhist philosophy is positivistic and has a careful logical
systematization of ideas
 Ethical: it is ethical; the eightfold path to Nirvana makes a universal appeal.
 Democratic: it is democratic as it believed in freedom of enquiry. Democratic and
republican procedures were followed while running the educational
institutions.
 Development of good conduct: the entire techniques of Buddhism provide
directions to develop good conduct and which is also the essence of a sound
system of education. Also its belief in Karma lays stress on the necessity to be
constantly on the vigil to maintain one‘s conduct in the present life.
 Moral Discipline: The Buddha Bhikku4 (monk) took the vows of chastity and of
2
poverty. Character was the basis of moral discipline
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Emphasis on Manual skills: Training of manual skills like spinning and weaving
was emphasized to enable men to earn for living
 Pragmatic: It is pragmatic; everything is in a state of flux as it is only
momentary. Change is the rule of the universe. It does not believe in the
absolutism. It is witnessed in the present era of globalization.
 International impact: Buddhist education helped India to gain international
importance. It also developed cultural exchange between India and other countries
of the world. International exchange of scholars attracted students and scholars
from far off lands.
 Value education & Character development: To be moral being one must follow
noble path, the eightfold path as preached in Buddhism provides guidance for
moral education and peace. The entire techniques of Buddhism provide directions
to develop good conduct which is also the essence of sound system of education.
 Organization and Structure of Universities: Universities established during this
period are still serving as a guiding force. The organization of Nallanda and
Ballabhi University was advanced that it continues to influence the organization
and structure of university till present day. The system of determining minimum
ages for higher education, providing a set of rule and taking a test for admission are
even today guiding the educational structure.
 Education as a social Institution: Education as a social institution got its
existence as a result of Buddhist system of education.
 Imparting education in practical subjects: An important contribution of this
period is the imparting of education in various practical subjects, a tradition which
has come down to the present day also. Collective Teaching Methodology: It was in
this period that the method of collective teaching and the presence of numerous
teachers in single institution were evolved
JAINISM
Jainism is independent of Buddhism yet it resembles it in several aspects, such as in its
repudiation of the authority of the Vedas, its pessimistic outlook on life, and its refusal to
believe in supreme God. But the differences it exhibits are equally noticeable, such as its
recognition of permanent entities like the self (jiva) and matter. Derived from the word
jina‘with root in ji‘it means victor‘i.e, the one who has successfully subdued his passions
and obtained mastery over himself. The origin of Jain philosophy traces back to the prehistoric time. It is said 24 tirthankars or liberated persons preached this truth which was
handed over one by one in course of time. The last of them was Vardhamana also called
Mahavira, a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. Jainism is the smallest of the major world
religion, but in India its influence is much more. Jain philosophy and culture have
been a major cultural and philosophical, social and political force since dawn of
civilization in Asia. Metaphysically, Jainism believes in plurality of souls and not in the
existence of God. It holds that there are as many souls as there are living beings. They also
accept the existence of souls even in animals and plants, with degrees of difference in the
level of consciousness. They believe that every soul is capable of attaining infinite
consciousness, power and happiness by removing all Karmas‘or bondages.
Practical Teachings of Jainism
 Triratna or three gems of its teaching were considered three precious principles of
life.
 Five vows (vrata) or abstinences to indicate
general character.
4
 Ahimsa (Non-violence) is the foremost3 virtue in Indian thought but in Jainism it
requires distinct meaning and depth; it is non-violence in word, thought and deed.
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Emphasizing the individualistic aspect, Jainism emphasizes on the development of
personality as the final aim. Jaina teachings are social and tolerant and believe in
happiness of all.
 There are two levels of discipline depending on the severity of the vows which are
different for the monks and of lay life.
 The aim of life is to get oneself disentangled from karma. Jainism believes in
transmigration of soul. Soul united with karma is called a soul in bondage, and is to
be redeemed and liberated.
 Moksha means dissolution of partnership between soul and matter, restoring the
ideal character of the jiva.
 Jainism rejects God as the creator of this world, as a need to create the world would
be inconsistent with his necessary perfection, Jainism looks upon man himself as
God when his inherent powers are fully in bloom.
 Jaina views are both relativistic and pluralistic as it recognizes jivas and the
material objects.
 The primary aim of Jainism is the perfection of the soul, rather than the
interpretation of the universe; hence it fails to find ultimate solutions of the
metaphysical problem.
EPISTEMOLOGY
Jainism made its own unique contribution to this mainstream development of philosophy
by occupying itself with the basic epistemological issues, namely, with those concerning
the nature of knowledge, how knowledge is derived, and in what way knowledge can be
said to be reliable. Knowledge for the Jains takes place in the soul, which, without the
limiting factor of karma, is omniscient. Humans have partial knowledge – the object of
knowledge is known partially and the means of knowledge do not operate to their full
capacity. According to Tattvārthasūtra, the knowledge of the basic Jaina truths can be
obtained through:
 Pramāṇa – means or instruments of knowledge which can yield a comprehensive
knowledge of an object, and
 Naya – particular standpoints, yielding partial knowledge.
Pramāṇa are of five kinds:
 mati or "sensory knowledge",
 Sruta or "scriptural knowledge",
 avadhi or "clairvoyance",
 manahparyaya or "telepathy", and
 kevala” or "omniscience"
The first two are described as being indirect means of knowledge (parokṣa), with the
others furnishing direct knowledge (pratyakṣa), by which it is meant that the object is
known directly by the soul. Jains came out with their doctrines of relativity used for logic
and reasoning:
 Anekāntavāda – the theory of relative pluralism or manifoldness;
 Syādvāda – the theory of conditioned predication and;
 Nayavāda – The theory of partial standpoints.
These philosophical concepts have made most important contributions to the ancient
Indian philosophy, especially in the areas of scepticism and relativity.
syadvada (saptabhangi naya)
4
 syād-asti—in some ways, it is,
4
 syād-nāsti—in some ways, it is not,
 syād-asti-nāsti—in some ways, it is, and it is not,
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 syād-asti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is, and it is indescribable,
 syād-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is not, and it is indescribable,
 syād-asti-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is, it is not, and it is indescribable,
 syād-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is indescribable.
Anekāntavāda:
One of the most important and fundamental doctrines of Jainism is Anēkāntavāda. It refers
to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, the notion that truth and
reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of
view is the complete truth. According to the doctrine, no single, specific, human view can
claim to represent absolute truth.
Nayavada :
is the theory of partial standpoints or viewpoints. Nayavāda is a compound of two
Sanskrit words—naya ("partial viewpoint") and vāda ("school of thought or debate"). It is
used to arrive at a certain inference from a point of view. An object has infinite aspects to
it, but when we describe an object in practice, we speak of only relevant aspects and
ignore irrelevant ones. This does not deny the other attributes, qualities, modes and other
aspects; they are just irrelevant from a particular perspective. While operating within the
limits of language and seeing the complex nature of reality, Māhavīra used the language of
nayas. Naya, being a partial expression of truth, enables us to comprehend reality part by
part.
REALITY
Jain philosophy postulates that seven tattva (truths or fundamental principles) constitute
reality:
 Jīva-The soul substance which is said to have a separate existence from the body
that houses it. Jīva is characterised by cetana (consciousness) and upayoga
(knowledge and perception). Though the soul experiences both birth and death, it
is neither really destroyed nor created. Decay and origin refer respectively to the
disappearing of one state of soul and appearance of another state, these being
merely the modes of the soul substance.
 ajīva- the non-soul
 āsrava (influx)- inflow of auspicious and evil karmic matter into the soul.
 bandha (bondage)- mutual intermingling of the soul and karmas.
 Samvara (stoppage)- obstruction of the inflow of karmic matter into the soul.
 Nirjara (gradual dissociation)- separation or falling off of part of karmic matter
from the soul.
 mokṣha (liberation)- complete annihilation of all karmic matter (bound with any
particular soul).
The knowledge of these reals is said to be essential for the liberation of the soul.
VALUES
The Jain morality and ethics are rooted in its metaphysics and its utility towards the
soteriological objective of liberation. Jaina ethics evolved out of the rules for the ascetics
which are encapsulated in the mahavratas or the five great vows.
Five vows
1. Ahiṃsā
Not to hurt any living being by actions and thoughts
2. Satya Not to lie or speak what is not commendable.
3. Asteya Not to take anything if not given.
4. Brahmacharya
Chastity / Celibacy4 in action, words & thoughts
5
5. Aparigraha (Non-possession)
Detachment
from material property.
Guņa vratas
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1. digvrata
Restriction on movement with regard to directions.
2. bhogopabhogaparimana
Vow of limiting consumable and non-consumable
things
3. anartha-dandaviramana
Refraining from harmful occupations and activities
(purposeless sins).
Śikşā vratas
1. samayika
Vow to meditate and concentrate periodically.
2. desavrata
Limiting movement to certain places for a fixed period of time.
3. upvas Fasting at regular intervals.
4. atihti samvibhag
Vow of offering food to the ascetic and needy people
Aims of Education
Truth is relativistic and pluralist, in a state of may be‘. Knowledge therefore may be
viewed differently. Nothing fixed. Self-realization as jiva is divine. Education must focus on
his divinity and remove the material bond of soul. Education should lead to selfenlightenment and restore the full powers of jiva. Development of personality as an
individual. Hence, more stress on individual aims. Teaching should give necessary jnana
and penance to help jiva Cessation of Karma would disassociate jiva from it and regain its
power and glory. Teaching must help train one for it. Believes in transmigration of soul,
hence education may partly be the preparation for the next world.
Curriculum:
‘Punya ‘and ’paap ‘are the two principles of the nine categories. Hence, education should
develop sense of discrimination. Education should include provision for attainment of
Tri-Ratnas, the precious principles of life that bring happiness, success and love here and
now. Education should inculcate non-violence as a virtue, practiced and not only aspired
for, that would be socially desirable. Teaching of nine principles called as nine
categories of Jainism to dissolve the partnership between soul and matter.
Methods of Teaching
Knowledge is through senses and meditation. Teaching must develop these faculties.
Teaching should be social and tolerant, and should bring happiness to all. Jiva is
essentially karmic, therefore education must be action based and ideally oriented.
Discipline:
Emphasis on self discipline and hard work. Practical discipline (of a lower order meant for
ordinary house-holders) is essential for release from the bondage. Happiness and bliss
through action. Man is a free moral agent, responsible for all his deliberate action.
Educational Implications
 Major Contributions: Jainism has made important contribution to art,
architecture and literature. Jain philosophy and culture have been a major cultural
and philosophical, social and political force since dawn of civilization in Asia.
 Strong emphasis on Non-Violence: The distinguishing feature of Jain philosophy
is its strong emphasis on non-violence, accent on multiple facets of truth, morality
and ethics.
 Integrated: the contribution of Jain philosophy in the development of Indian
philosophy has been significant. Jain philosophy concepts like Ahimsa, Karma,
Moksha, and Sansara and like has been assimilated into philosophies of other
Indian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. It is impossible to separate
Indian religion, philosophy and education.
 Concept of Compassion: Sense of sympathy
extends to all living beings even to
4
animals as stated in both Jainism & Buddhism.
6
Page
Contribution to a strain of Pacifism: Absolute respect for living beings is
stressed, best way to resist evil is through non-violence, and it is successfully used
in Jainism & Buddhism.
 Law of Karma (cause and effect): universe is ruled by moral law which punishes
all sins and rewards good deeds, belief that our character creates its own heaven
and hell is significant in nearly all schools of philosophy.
 Highest state of knowledge: The highest state of knowledge is intuition through
which man achieves a realization of oneness of the universe. Most of the Indian
philosophies essence lies in this aspect.
ISLAMIC TRADITIONS OF EDUCATION IN INDIA
The period under review covers the system of education in India from about the 10th
century A.D. to the middle of the 18th century, i.e. before the British rule.
Chief characteristics of Muslim education:Aims of education:
 Developing love for Muslim culture and religion.
 Enabling the individual for Islamic life.
 Preparing the students for the next world.
 Equipping the students for a vocation.
 Preparing individuals for running administration.
Patronage of the rulers: The rulers helped in the spread of education. They built
educational institutions and universities. They endowed them with the funds. Big landlord
also provided financial help for the spread of education. The rulers patronized the men of
learning.
No state control: The rules neither claim any authority over the educational institutions
nor interfered with their management.
Religion dominated education: In the words of S.N. MUKERJI, “The whole educational
system was saturated with the religious ideals which influenced the aim, the contents of
study, and even the daily life of the pupils.” The pupils acquired knowledge as a religious
obligation.
Countryside as the center of education: By and large, educational institutions
flourished in the countryside.
Provision of various disciplines: Through education was primarily religion- oriented, it
included the study of many intellectual activities like mathematics, astronomy, grammer,
polity and politics. Art and literature were also encouraged.
Norms of conduct: Adequate stress was laid on well- defined norms of behaviour, pattern
of thought, building up personality and character of the pupils.
Teacher-pupil relationship: In the Muslim period also the teacher was respected as
during the Brahmanic or Budhist period. There was intimate relationship between the
teacher and the pupil, although the practice of living with the teacher was not as common
with the Muslim as it was in the case of Brahmanic and Budhist period.
Learned teachers: Teachers took to teaching for love of learning. They were held in high
esteem. Prof. S.N. Mukerji has observed, “Learning was prized for its own sake and as a
mark of the highest human development and teaching was never handicapped by
examination requirements
Individualized instructions: Since the number of students with the teacher was limited,
he paid individual attention to each students .
Monitorial system: Although a teacher did not
4 have many pupils to teach yet, still the
7
teacher would take the help of senior and advanced
students to teach the younger or the
junior.
47

48
8
Page
Discipline: Punishments were quit severe. Truants and delinquents were caned on their
palms and slapped on their faces. A strange mode of punishment was to make the children
hold their ears by taking their hands from under their thighs while sitting on their tiptoes.
Types of institutions: Primary education was imparted in ‘Maktabs’ and secondary and
high education in ‘Madrasahs’.
Vocational education: Provision was also made for vocational, technical and professional
education. Emperor Akbar took considerable interest in education as is evident from the
passage of from the ‘Ain-in-Akbar’. The passage makes interesting reading and provides
valuable information on the system of instruction, i.e., curriculum, methods of teaching
etc.
Chief features of Primary and Elementary Muslim Education
Institution of primary education: Primary education was imparted through the
‘Maktab’ which were attached with mosque or were independent of the mosque
‘Khanquahs’ of the saints also at some places served as centres of education. Several
learned men also taught students at their residences.
Financing of the Maktabs: Most of the Maktabs were either patronized by rulers or had
endowment. They dependent on the charity of the philanthropists.
Management of the ‘Maktabs’: The ‘Maktabs’ were run under the guidance of the
learned ‘Maulavis’. They were supposed to be very pious.
Curriculum: Curriculum varied from place to place but the teaching of Alphabets and the
recitation of Quran was almost compulsory. The students learnt some portions of Quran
by heart as this was considered essential to perform religious functions.
Language: Arabic and Persian languages were mostly compulsory. For getting high
government posts, one had to learn these languages.
Fees: There were several village schools where the students were required to pay their
instructions, not in cash but in kind.
Orphanages: The state set up some Orphanages where the children received education
free of charge. Vast endowments were made for these orphanages.
Age of admission: At the age of four years, four months and four days, ‘Maktab’ ceremony
or ‘Bismillah’ was performed to indicate the beginning of the child. This was considered as
an auspicious moment for initiation or starting education. Good wishes were offered to
the child. ‘Surah-i-Iqra’ a chapter from the holy Quran was recited on this occasion.
Education of sons of Nobles and Rulers: The Muslims nobles as well as rulers engaged
tutors to teach their children at home. Wide spread of Maktabas were several ‘Maktabs’ in
town and cities.
Curriculum and Mode of Instruction:
 The Quran : After alphabets, words were taught to students
 Stress on Calligraphy: beautiful and fine handwriting was an important element of
instruction.
 Teaching of Grammar: Grammar was taught as it was considered very valuable in
teaching the languages.
 Religious Instruction: Instruction imparted in the ‘Maktabs’ was religious through
and through.
 Books other than Quran: After the Quran, the ‘Gulistan’ and the ‘Bostan’ poems of
poet Firdausi were taken up.
 Paharas’: Students also learned ‘Pahars’ (multiple of numbers). Students
memorized these while uttering collective
4 in a loud voice.

Buildings: In general, the students sat on the ground in the rows under the shade of
a tree and the teacher used mat or dear-skin to sit at. He also attended to the
students while standing.
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EDU C 202: SOCIOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
UNIT 3: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL
CHANGE
PREPARED BY: DR. MOHAMMAD SAYID
BHAT
1. SOCIAL CHANGE AND EDUCATION
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
After going through this study material, the student will be able to:
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Define what is social change.
Differentiate between social change and cultural change.
Understand various characteristics of social change.
Understand various sources of social change.
Understand various factors of social change.
Understand various theories of social change given by various sociologists.
Understand the role of education for social change.
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The term social change is used to indicate the changes that take place in human
interactions and interrelations. Society is a web of social relationships and hence social change
means change in the system of social relationships. These are understood in terms of social
processes and social interactions and social organization. August Comte the father of Sociology has
posed two problems- the question of social statics and the question of social dynamics, what is and
how it changes. The sociologists not only outline the structure of the society but also seek to know
its causes also. According to Morris Ginsberg social change is a change in the social structure.
The International Encyclopedia of the Social Science looks at social change as the change in
the social structure, or in the pattern of action and interaction in societies. Alterations may occur
in norms, values, cultural products and symbols5 in a society. Alteration may occur in norms,
values, cultural products and symbols in society. 8Other definitions of change also point out that
change implies, above all other things, alteration in the structure and functions of a social system.
Institutions, patterns of interaction, work, leisure activities, roles, norms, and other aspects of
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2. INTRODUCTION
society can be altered over time as a result of the process of social change. While defining the
social change we can say that social change is essentially a process of alteration with no reference
to the quality of change. Changes in society are related/linked to changes in culture, so that it
would be sometimes useful to talk about ‘socio-cultural change’.
Social change can vary in its scope and in speed. We can talk of small or large scale
changes. Change can take a cyclical pattern, e.g., when there is the recurrence of centralization and
decentralization in administrative organization. It can also be revolutionary. Revolutionary change
can be seen when there is an overthrow of government in a particular nation. Change can also
include short term changes (e.g., in migration rates) as well as long term changes (in economic
structures). We can include in social change, both growth and decline in membership and size of
social institutions. Change may include continuous processes like specialization,
bureaucratization, and also include discontinuous process such as particular technical or social
invention which appears at some point of time.
Change also varies in scope, in that it may influence many aspects of a society and disrupt
the whole social system like the process of industrialization has affected many aspects of society.
Some changes occur rapidly but others take a long time. Many of the western nations took many
decades to become industrialized, but developing nations are trying to do it more quickly. They do
this by borrowing or adapting from those nations which have already achieved it.
Today, most of the sociologists assume that change is a natural, inevitable, ever present
part of life in every society. When we are looking at social change, we are focusing not in changes
in the experiences of an individual, but on variations in social structures, institutions and social
relationship. To understand social change clearly, here are some definitions of social change.
M. E. Jones, “Social change is a term used to describe variations in, or modifications of, any aspect
of social processes, social patterns, social interactions, or social organizations.”
Manjumdar, “Social change may be defined as a new fashion or mode, either modifying or
replacing the old, in the life of the people, or in the operation of society.”
MacIver and Page, “Social change refers to a process responsive to many types of changes, to
changes in the manmade conditions of life, to changes in the attitudes and beliefs of men, and to
the changes that go beyond the human control to the biological and the physical nature of things.”
Thus, any alteration, difference or modification that takes place in a situation or in an
object through time to time can be called change. The term social change is used to indicate the
changes that take place in human interactions and interrelations. Society is a web of social
relations and hence social change obviously means a change in the system of social relationships.
Social relationships are understood in terms of social processes and social interactions and social
organizations. Thus, the term social change is used to describe variations in social interaction,
social processes and social organizations. It includes alterations in the structure and functions of
the society.
3. SOCIAL CHANGE AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Some sociologists, however, differentiate social change with cultural change. Social change
is defined as alterations in the social structure, (including the changes in the size of society) or in a
particular social institution, or in the relationship between institutions. They feel that social
change refers mainly to actual human behaviour. Cultural change on the other hand, refers to
variations in cultural phenomenon such as knowledge and ideas, art, religion, moral doctrine,
values, beliefs, symbol systems and so on. The distinction is abstract, because in many situations it
is difficult, or nearly impossible to decide which type of change is occurring. For instance, growth
of modern technology as part of the culture has been closely associated with alterations in the
economic structures, one important part of the society.
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Some important characteristic of social change are as under
Social change is universal
5
It means that social change is not confined to a particular society or group. It occurs in
9
every society, sociologically, speaking an unchangeable society is considered as a dead society.
Thus, no society is free from the impact of social change.
59
4. CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
Speed of social change is related to time factor
The speed of social change is not uniform. It differs from period to period. In modern
society the speed of social change is rapid or faster than traditional society.
Speed of social change is unequal and comparative
We can argue that speed of social change is more or less similar in each society. It is slow
in traditional society whereas it is rapid in modern society. In urban areas the speed of social
change is faster than the rural areas.
Social change is an essential law
Essential law means a law which occurs and over which we have no control. It may be
planned or not, it must occur.
Social change may be planned or unplanned
Planned changes are those which occur by some deliberate or conscious effort. On the
other hand, unplanned change refers to the change which occurs without any deliberate effort like
earth-quake, war, political revolution and other natural calamities. Thus, social change occurs both
in planned and unplanned manner.
Social change may be short term or long term
Some change brings immediate change which is known as short term change like fashion.
But other changes take years to produce result which is known as long term change. Custom,
tradition, folkways, mores etc. are long term changes.
Social change lacks definite prediction
Prediction means 'foretelling' in case of social change we are well aware of various factors
but we cannot predict although it is a law. Definite prediction of social change is not possible,
because what will be the result of social change we cannot say.
Social change is a community change
Social change does not refer to the change which occurs in the life of an individual or life
pattern of individuals. It is a change which occurs in the entire community and that change can be
called social change which influences a community form.
Social change is the result of the interaction of various factors
A single factor can trigger a particular change but never causes social change. It is always
associated with other factors such as cultural, biological, physical, technological and others. It is
due to the material interdependence of social phenomenon.
SOURCES OF SOCIAL CHANGE
Some sociologists propose that social change take place basically in one or more of the following
three ways:
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Diffusion
Diffusion refers to the spread of cultural traits from one group to another. It
operates both within and between societies. It6 takes place whenever societies come into
0
contact. Diffusion is a two way process. The British
gave us their language and made tea
an important ritual. Diffusion is also a selective process. Majority of the Indians may adopt
60
Discovery
A shared human perception is an aspect of reality which already exists, for example
discovery of blood circulation in biology. It is an addition in the world’s store of verified
knowledge. However, it becomes an actor in social change only when it is put to use, not
when it is merely known.
Inventions
Invention is the new combination or a new use of existing knowledge, for example
the assembling of the computer from an already existing idea. The idea of combining them
was new. Inventions can be material and social. Each invention may be new in form (i.e. in
shape or action) in function (what it does) or in meaning (its long range consequence) or
in principle (the theory or law on which it is based).
the English language, but not their eating habits. Diffusion generally involves some
modification of the borrowed elements of culture either in form, function or meaning.
Exogenous and Endogenous origin of Change
It is very difficult to determine where and how change originates. Some sociologists have
offered a distinction between endogenous change (change originating from within) and change
can only rarely be assigned wholly to one or the other category. It can be argued that wars
(exogenous origin) have played an active part in bringing about major social changes in societies
across the world. Again it could be said that in the modern world, the change taking place in the
developing countries have been stimulated to a large extent, by western technology which was
introduced in most cases following colonial rule. But in all societies, including those in which the
initial impetus has come from outside, social change has dependent to a great extent upon the
activities of various social groups within the society. A major part of sociological analysis consists
in identifying the sphere and groups, that are principally affected, and the ways in which
innovations are diffused from one sphere to another.
Acceptance of and Resistance to Social Change
This leads us to another problem in social change, namely acceptance and resistance to
social change. Innovations are rarely accepted totally. The specific attitudes and values of the
society in question, the manifest usefulness of the innovations, the compatibility of the innovations
with the existing culture, vested interests, and the role of change agents are some of the important
factors that affect the degree of acceptance and resistance to social change.
Page
61
5. SOME FACTORS
Social change is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon. There are both endogenous
(internal to the society concerned) and exogenous (external to the society) factors influencing social
change. The following are the important factors contributing to social change:
Geography, Population and Ecology
These factors are seen to bring about sudden change or set a limit on social change.
Climatic conditions, natural recourses, physical location of country, natural disasters can be
important sources of change. A natural disaster like floods may destroy entire population, force
people to migrate to another place, or make them rebuild their community all over again.
Similarly, increase and decrease in the size of human population through birth, death or migration
can pose a serious challenge to economic and political institutions. Today, many geographic
alterations and natural disasters are induced by the activities of the inhabitants of a region. Soil
erosion, water and air pollution may become sever enough to trigger off new norms and laws
regarding how to use resources and dispose waste products.
Technology
The technological factors represent the conditions created by man which have a profound
influence on his life. In the attempt to satisfy his wants, fulfill his needs and to make his life more
comfortable man creates civilization. Technology is a by-product of civilization. Technology is a
systematic knowledge which is put into practice that is to use tools and run machines to serve
human purpose. In utilizing the products of technology man brings social change. The social
effects of technology are far-reaching. According to Karl Marx even the formation of social
relations and mental conceptions and attitudes are dependent upon technology. He has regarded
technology as a sole explanation of social change. W.F Ogburn says technology changes society by
changing our environment to which we in turn adapt. These changes are usually in the material
environment and the adjustment that we make with these changes often modifies customs and
social institutions.
Values and Beliefs
The role of values in social change has been clearly brought out in Max Webber’s book the
‘Protestant EthicsandThe Spirit of Capitalism’. Webber proposed that in some historical situations,
doctrines or ideas may independently affect the direction of social change. He tried to show that
6 in religious values as contained in Asiatic
the rise of modern capitalism was mainly rooted
1
Protestantism.
Culture
Culture not only influences our social relationships, it also influences the direction and
character of technological change. It is not only our beliefs and social institutions which must
correspond to the changes in technology but our beliefs and social institutions determine the use
to which the technological inventions will be put in.
Ideological Factors
Political, social and religious ideologies can bring forth radical changes in social structure
and social relationships.
Psychological Factors
Man, by nature, is a lover of change. The inherent tendency to look for novelty compel man
to experiment new ideas which may sometimes results in the establishment of new social setup.
Change in attitude of society towards family planning, dowry, caste system, women's education
etc. which brought about radical changes in society are primarily psychological in nature.
It has been pointed out that the contribution by men of genius and leaders to social change
is important. The ‘great men’ faced a set of circumstance, and their influence arose a part from
their ability to draw out persuasively the latent aspirations, anxieties and fears of large numbers
of people. They are also charismatic leaders. These leaders owed their positions to personal
qualities, and left upon events the mark of their own convictions.
6. THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE
The idea of social change as the normal and as proceedings inevitably from bad to good
and from good towards better on the way to social perfection be an intellectual heritage from
which the early modern sociologists could not entirely escaped. August Comte had expected the
achievement of the scientific stage of social thought to lead to the emergence of new social elite,
the social engineers, who would apply to human welfare the finding of science, including those of
the new science of the society.
August Comte’s philosophical evolution represents the three ways in which the human
unity is developed. According to him human mind passes through three stages namely:
Page
August Comte was of the view that when we study the development of the human mind or
intellect in different societies and through different ages, we come to that basic law which guides
the development of human mind and intellect. Definite proof in this regard is available in our
organization and historical experiences. In other words, it means that all our concepts passed
through these three stages- theological, metaphysical and positivistic. It would be worthwhile to
study all these stages one by one.
Theological Stage
August Comte was of the opinion that during theological stage man’s ideas and views were
fictitious. In those days, man thought that all his activities were occupied by supernatural factors.
It was so because he was not aware of the laws that governed the working of those things. At this
primitive stage man believed that there is another world apart from this world where
supernatural powers reside and influence events of the world. These events exhibit and display
the happiness and unhappiness of supreme beings. Man did not think it proper to anything beyond
this.
Three Stages of Theological or Fictitious Thinking
August Comte has laid down that there are three stages of the theological or fictitious thinking.
These three stages are:
Fetishism
In this stage of theological fictitious thinking, man explains the phenomenon by ascribing
them to beings or forces comparable to man himself.
Polytheism
During the age of polytheism, man falls a6 prey to all sorts of magic, sorcery and allied
2
activities. He is influenced and surrounded by wrong
notions. As a reaction of this, his thinking
becomes more alert and conscious. Accepting the presence of all powerful spirits or supernatural
62
1. The theological or fictitious stage,
2. The metaphysical stage, and
3. The positive stage.
powers in all the objects transplants or imposes, specific or a special God in every object. This
stage of social thought has been called polytheism.
Monotheism
This is the last stage of the theological or fictitious stage. At this stage human thinking
becomes abstract and discreet. At this stage, man is guided by reason than anything else.
Metaphysical or Abstract Stage of Thinking
No doubt monotheism is the last part of the theological stage but human thinking does not
help there. Its progress continues. As a result of this development, the reason develops in human
thinking. As a result of reason, man ceases to think that it is God that guides and controls the entire
working of the human world. Man also ceases to think that it is the supernatural being that
controls or guides all the activities. In this stage, human mind explains phenomenon by invoking
abstract entities like nature. It is this abstract power that is responsible for guiding and controlling
the human and natural activities. In the metaphysical stage of thinking, man replaces the
supernatural being as a factor responsible for guiding the human activities.
Page
Finally, in the third phase, man is content to observe phenomenon and to establish the
regular links existing among them. He establishes the laws that govern him.
This is in fact, the final or positive stage of human mind or thinking. At this stage man
starts lying down theories and principles. Now instead of imagination, he resorts to observe.
Reason and examination or tests are basic planks of knowledge at this stage.
Herbert Spencer has said that the evolution applies to inorganic, organic and super
organic aspects of the world. In fact, through his theory of evolution, Spencer tried to prove that
the phenomenon of constant changeability is present. In other words, it means that the process of
change or the wheel of change moves on constantly.
According to Spencer there are three laws that govern the process of evolution:
Law of Persistent Force: According to this law the force or the energy which is responsible for
evolution is indestructible and constant. It persists.
Law of Indestructibility of Matter: Like the force or the energy, the matter also does not vanish.
It persists and is indestructible, although several changes take place in its exterior form. This
theory of Spencer goes to show that the basic element of the matter does not change.
Laws of Continuity of Motion: According to Spencer, the motion changes its form, but its basic
quality persists. There is continuity in the motion.
According to H. Spencer several societies grew and vanished. This growth and destruction
is governed by the process of adjustment with the environment of accommodation. Those races
which are able to acclimatize themselves to the environment and adjust accordingly, come out
victorious in the struggle for existence, and those that fail to do so, get destroyed. This is true of
the human society as well. In this process he has come out with his views about the evolution of
the society from simple to complex. The society got changed from the following stages: Simple
society to compound society (tribes and chief man), to doubly compound (City states, kingdom), to
triply compound (modern nations).
Hobhouse stated that society moved to different stages: From preliterate to literate to
proto science to reflective thought to critical thought. Gordon Childe has tried to build an
evolutionary sequence based on the development of material culture. He put emphasis on
technology which is the basic factor in evolutionary change and the evolutionary sequence
consists ofPaleolithic to Mesolithic to Neolithic to Metal Age to Copper Age to Bronze Age to Iron
Age. According to LeslieWhyte, society is a cultural system which is divided into three
components- techno economy, social structure and ideology. For him cultural development
depends upon two factors- techno kind and energy consumption. According to Aurobindo, the
process of evolution goes on constantly. It means that while on one hand, we move ahead and on
the other, we also go down. The process of evolution takes the following three courses:
Expansion, Height, and Perfection;
6
Karl Marx gave the theory of social change3 on the basis of his conflict theory. He says that
nature is ever changing, because everything is involved in struggle. As a result of this struggle, old
things get destroyed and new things are born in their place. Because of these factors the face of the
63
Positive Stage
society changes. This struggle leads to the development of new means and techniques of
production resulting into social relation and birth of new social and economic classes. In fact,
nature of matter is dynamic and as a result of this dynamism, several changes continue to take
place.
In society every event has a negation which leads to further development. Because of this
process of contradiction, changes take place. These changes in nature are evolutionary changes.
The process of changes goes on and a stage is reached when there is explosion and it brings about
revolutionary changes.
The theory of social change as propounded by Pareto is an important contribution to the
field of sociology. In this theory, he has made an attempt to interpret concretely the social
phenomenon. According to him, the two classes of residues- ‘residues of combinations’ and
‘residues of persistence of aggregate’ are responsible for social change.
According to Pareto, three factors are responsible for social change:
Page
Pareto is of the opinion that the cycle of social change goes on. The political cycle starts
when those who have strong residues of the persistence of aggregate hold power over the
government. In the economic field, according to Pareto, again there are two types of persons who
possess strongly residues of combinations or speculators while those who possess residues of
persistence aggregator are called ‘Rentiers’. Rentiers are die-heards and they are not prepared to
change with the requirements of the society.
Pareto’s cyclic theory of social change is linked with his theory of circulation of elite. These
theories work in almost all the types of political system, in all fields of life. According to him cyclic
theory is helpful in maintaining balance. Crises, according to him, are a part of every political and
economic set up and lead to social change.
According to Veblen, it is the technological development which is responsible for changing
the habits and other facts of the social change. According to him, the habits that govern the man
are the result of machines and material environment. Material environment according to Veblen is
nothing but the result of the technological development. That is why, he has said, “Social structure
changes develop; adopt itself to an alerted situation only through the change into habits of thought
of the individuals which make up the community. The evolution of society is substantially a
process of mental adaptation on the part of individual habits of that form under and conforming to
a different set of circumstances in the past”
As Max Weber did not recognize that one single factor was responsible for social change.
Like Marx, he did not say only economic factor was the determining factor of social change. He no
doubt gave recognition to the importance of religion in social change and that is why Sorokin has
called him Determinist but he has further stated that various factors are interdependent and
interrelated. He has recognized religion as a variable.
Henry Giddings has also talked about social progress. According to him, social progress is
based on two factors: Rational social liking and interest, and Combination of the social values.
According to him, for the rational development of the society, its critical evolution is needed.
Sorokin after a good deal of study of the various aspects of social change explains the
cause of the social change on the basis of culture. According to Sorokin, the entire history of
humanity is the history of dynamics of culture. He is opposed of existing cyclical and linear
concepts of social change. He has not confined himself to the position of this concept of social
change. He has but he has propounded more definite approaches. According to him, “Culture is the
determining factor of the social change.” It means that with the fluctuation of the culture pattern,
social change also takes place. Thus, on one hand, he has propounded an original and new concept
of social change; on the other hand he has established close relationship between the culture and
the society.
6
Oswald Spengler in his book ‘The decline of the west’ pointed out that the fate of
4
civilizations was a matter of destiny. Each civilization is like a biological organism and has a
similar life cycle: birth, maturity, old age and death. After making a study of eight major
64
 Political,
 Economical, and
 Ideological.
civilizations including the west he said that the modern western society is in the last stage i.e. old
age. He concluded that the western societies were entering a period of decay as evidenced by
wars, conflicts and social breakdown that heralded their doom.
Arnold Toynbee's famous book 'A study of History' (1946) focus on the key concepts of
challenge and response. Every society faces challenges at first, challenges posed by the
environment and later challenges from internal and external enemies. The nature of responses
determines the society's fate. The achievements of a civilization consist of its successful responses
to the challenges; if cannot mount an effective response it dies. He does not believe that all
civilizations will inevitably decay. He has pointed out that history is a series of cycles of decay and
growth. But each new civilization is able to learn from the mistakes and to borrow from cultures of
others. It is therefore possible for each new cycle to offer higher level of achievement.
Ian Robertson says that every society faces challenges- at first, challenges posed by the
environment, later challenges from internal and external enemies. The nature of the responses
determines the society’s fate. The achievements of a civilization consist of its successful responses
to challenges; if it cannot mount an effective response, it dies.
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The relationship of education with social change is not a simple, unilateral one, as perhaps
many would like to believe, for education is not only instrumental in bringing about social change, it
is also quite interestingly instrumental in maintaining the status quo. In other words, education plays
with a ‘conservative’ and radical role, i.e., it helps both in ‘maintaining’ and changing different
aspects of the social system.
Society wishing to change or modernize itself has to employ a number of means,
instruments, institutions, agents or agencies to achieve its desired goals. Among such means,
education is perhaps the most important. Education provides necessary training in skills and
occupations and thus, produces the needed competent personnel for maintaining the different
specialized jobs in modern industrial, business, educational and research establishments. Not only
this, education is expected to change the values and attitudes of people. The role of education in
bringing about social change or modernization has led leaders and planners in developing nations
to make large scale provisions of educational facilities for their respective people. We in India,
have also seen the great efforts of our educational planners during the last fifty years of national
planning to expand diverse educational facilities at all levels, and in all regions of the country. Also
India is encouraging exchange of personnel and ideas with developed countries to obtain and
utilize theories; practices and mechanisms of education to achieve a modernized society. These
have resulted in many good things although much change still remains to be brought about.
If we try to analyze the life styles of individual citizens in India, we shall find two
interesting changes coming up. More and more people of the lower and middle classes are now
making great sacrifices so that children may get educated and with their education they may be
able to make their living better. Secondly, more and more people of the lower castes are now
becoming successful in uplifting themselves socially and economically by getting education.
Education has certainly enabled them in changing their lives for the better; it has granted them
better social status and opened the flood-gates of aspirations for their children.
Education must emphasize social reforms with a similar spirit, perspective and force as
social reform movement like Jabri Taleem, Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Protestantism, etc. showing
more liberalism and openness to modern influences is not sufficient. Concrete programmes often
social action warranted by contemporary Indian society, which could not be taken up during the
sixty odd years of freedom, must now be seriously accomplished within the shortest possible time
through the power use of education. Without a renovated programme of adult or social education
it cannot be done satisfactory. Similarly, without making education a multipurpose tool, the
desired social changes cannot come up. Our curriculum must really need to get changed and
6
become modern.
5
Teachers must certainly help the nation in bringing about long awaited social change. We
have, ourselves, first of all, to become personalities with a high degree of empathy, achievement
65
7. EDUCATION AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR SOCIAL
CHANGE
motivation, social sensitivity, risk-taking capacity and similar other attributes of a modern man. It
is only then we can activate or generate the minds and energies of our youth. Indian teachers have
to have a progressive vision of modernity. Teachers can prepare their students for taking their
right place in such a future society. So teachers have to involve themselves whole heartedly in
generating the process of social change in India.
We are conscious of the fact that teachers alone cannot do all this. The various reference
groups, the educational planners, educational administrators, political and social leaders and
parents also should come forward to help the teachers by modernizing their working in their own
sphere of social action.
There is a prime need from all political parties to discuss amongst themselves the
educational needs of the country and arrive at a consensus on a core programme of education to
be implemented in the country in spite of their varied political moorings. That is why common
core curriculum was recommended by the Indian Education Commission (1964-66). The
educational bureaucracy, still dominated by many old stereotyped notions, ministries,
universities, directorates, colleges and schools must also change. The parents must take greater
initiative and interest in aiding education in changing the society. However, the ultimate
responsibility of activating all these reference groups and enlisting this functional support for
change and modernizing our society through education would eventually fall on the teachers of
contemporary India. This is great responsibility and challenge.
8. SOCIAL DEMAND FOR EDUCATION
There is every reason to believe that the social demand for a longer education will
continue to increase. We have noticed the trend of today’s youth to stay in full-time education until
the ages of seventh or eighteen, and hence become potential candidates for higher education, and
there are evidences to show that we are still losing boys and girls of good ability in their struggle
through our complex and class stratified educational system. A greater appreciation of the value of
a longer education is spreading throughout all levels of society. This is especially noticeable among
working class parents who are more than that even before willing and even anxious to let their
children stay on beyond the statutory leaving age. The pressure on our system to respond and
adapt to the demand is being felt in three major directions which are listed below:
HIGHER EDUCATION
The modern university not only continues its traditional functions of creating a community
of students and scholars and centers for the advancement of knowledge and research, but has also
become a source of the leading positions of power and influence in society. With the continuing
and large increase in professional and managerial classes, the universities have come to acquire
more and more sociological significance. They are finding themselves more closely linked with
specialized occupations, interests, and are called upon to examine their place and change the
direction of their influence in a world with which they are becoming more geared to material
production. In fact, along with the newer institutions of higher learning, they are now becoming a
crucial factor in the development of our national economy.
We must face the possibility of many more willing and able students coming forward than
the capacity of our higher educational institutions are at present capable of dealing with. What has
been said about the universities equally applies to the colleges of advanced technology and the
teacher’s training colleges. Thus, it is desirable for each individual to have that education which
best suits his capacities. The development of such a genuinely educative society calls for the
continuous adaptation of our educational institutions to the needs of its members.
Page
There is need for a longer school life for children so that they are better adapted to society.
There is already a raising of the school-leaving age to 15 in the entire country and hence the
increase of extended courses. Increase in the school leaving age is essential for providing more
mature citizens to the country. For this purpose, the schools must be prepared for their functions
6 environment for the adolescents. It is thus a
of providing a protective, moral and even beneficial
6
matter of extreme importance that the school should become a community which is congenial,
helpful and useful in developing young people, no longer children who are passing through a
66
SECONDARY EDUCATION
difficult period of growth.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION
The demand for technical education is increasing rapidly. We refer here to the training of
short and middle-grade technicians below the level of the technologists. They have, in the past,
mostly been educated by part time courses in which there has been a shortage of time, a heavy
failure rate and lack of depth. There has also been a need for a closer integration between schools
and the system of further education.
The part time base of all courses has always been a question mark and arrangements are
now being made to give more time to students for classes, practical and discussion. Ultimately, the
development of bridge courses for the 16 to 18 age group will be a satisfactory method. These
courses form a base just after school and before students enter the technical institution. Providing
a closer link between the schools and technical education is the most important aspect of these
reforms, which come directly as a result of the failure of the system to keep pace with the changing
needs of industry. The technical college may be treated as a stepping stone for higher degree
courses. The provision of a parallel entry system through the various grades of technical courses
to degree courses is an alternative for the industrious student to get higher qualification in this
field. It is likely that this alternative but creative and practical education in highly skilled which
will become a major highway of the future, leading to satisfying, well-regarded and important
positions in the occupational structure.
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67
9. EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE
The role of education as an agent or instrument of a social change and social development
is widely recognized nowadays. Social change may take place when human needs change, when
the existing social system or network of social institutions fails to meet the existing human needs
and new materials suggest better ways of meeting human needs. Social changes do not take place
automatically or by themselves. As MacIver says, social change take place as a response to many
types of changes that take place in the social and nonsocial environment. Education can initiate
social changes by bringing about a change in outlook and attitude of man. It can bring about a
change in the pattern of social relationships and institutions and thereby it may cause social
change.
There was a time when educational institutions and teachers were engaged in transmitting
a way of life to the students. During those days, education was more a means of social control than
an instrument of social change. Modern schools, colleges and universities do not place much
emphasis upon transmitting a way of life to the students. The traditional education was meant for
an unchanging, static society, not marked by rapid changes. But, today, education aims at
imparting empirical knowledge that is knowledge about science, technology and other type of
specializations. Education was associated with religion. It has, however, become secular today. It is
an independent institution now. Education today has been chiefly instrumental in preparing the
way for the development of science and technology
Thus, education has brought about phenomenal changes in every aspect of man’s life.
Francis Brown remarks that education is a process which brings about changes in the behaviour of
society. It is a process which enables every individual to participate effectively in the activities of
society, and to make positive contribution to the progress of society.
According to Olive Banks (1968), the precise relationship of the education system to social
and economic change is extremely complex and it is almost impossible to draw conclusions that
are not misleading. The concept of education as producing or impeding social change is
enormously complicated by the fact that the education system itself is a part of society, which is
itself changing. Consequently the real issue is that of the interrelationship between educational
institutions and other aspects of the society. Moreover, it is this interrelationship which makes it
so difficult to use the educational system to produce conscious or planned social change. The
education system cannot be seen in isolation from its social context. The realization that
6
educational reform is not a universal panacea should
not lead us to minimize the importance of
7
knowledge about the educational institutions in society.
This simply means that the relationship
between education and social change is very complex and no simple generalizations can be drawn
regarding them.
10.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Page
6
8
68
1. Harington, Austin (2005). Modern Social Theory: An Introduction, New
York: Oxford University Press.
2. Havinghhurst, R.J. and Neugarten, B.L. (1964). Society and Education,
Boston: Allyn Bacon.
3. IGNOU (2002). Es-334 Education and Society, New Delhi: The Director,
School of Education.
4. Kamat, A.R. (1985). Education and Social Change in India, Bombay: Somaiya
Publications.
5. Malinowski, B. (19153). ‘Anthropology’ in Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences, New York: Macmillan Co. Vol.III.
6. Mann, Michael. (1994). Macmillan Student Encyclopedia of Sociology,
London: Macmillan Press.
7. Morish, Ivor. (2nd Ed.) (1978). The Sociology of Education: An Introduction,
U.K: Union Education Books.
8. Oad, L.K. and Singh, R.P. (1975). Perspectives of Indian Education, Agra:
Mehra & Co.
9. Ottway, A.K.C. (1953). Education and Society, London: Rutledge and Kegan
Paul.
10. Richard T. Lapiere, (1965). Social Change, Tokyo: McGraw Hill.
11. Russell, Bertrand, (1977). Education and Social Order, London: Unwin
Paperbacks.
12. Shankar Rao (2004) Sociology of Indian Society, New Delhi: S. Chand &
Company.
13. Shankar Rao (2006) Principles of Sociology with an Introduction to Social
Thought, New Delhi: S. Chand & Company.
14. Shankar U. (1991). Sociology of Education for Modern India, New Delhi:
Enkay Publishers Private Limited.
15. Sheaffer, Sheldon. (Ed.) (1992). Collaborating for Educational Change: the
role of teachers, parents, and the community in school improvement, Paris:
UNESCO, International Institute of Educational Planning.
M.A. EDUCATION
EDUC203: PSYCHOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION II
UNIT 1 APPROACHES TO LEARNING
PREPARED BY: DR. ISMAIL
THAMARASSERI
UNIT 1
APPROACHES TO LEARNING
The contents of this unit are designed to develop critical appreciation and insight
into Constructivist, Social Constructivist and Humanistic approaches to learning.
2.
INTRODUCTION
At the time of birth, every human baby have limited number of responses. As s/he grows
and matures s/he becomes capable of making different type of responses – such as
identifying mother and father, how to eat food, learn to alphabet, to write and combine
them in to words, observes others doing and imitate them. Similarly, learning of name for
objects such as book, orange, mango, cow etc, drive a scooter, car, bus etc. These modes of
behaviour or responses are the result of certain experiences, i.e., learning. Therefore
learning refers to a spectrum of changes that takes place as result of one’s experiences. In
other words, it may be defined as any relatively permanent change in behaviour or
behavioural potential produced by an experience. Some Definitions of Learning are shown
below;
 Learning is the acquisition of new behaviour or strengthening of old behaviour as
result of experience - Kingsley and Garrey.
 The term learning covers every modification
in behaviour to meet environmental
6
requirements - Gardner Murphy.
9
 Learning is the process by which behaviour is originated or changes through
practice or training - Kingsley and Garry.
69

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE
Page
1.
3.
Constructivism
What is meant by constructivism? The term refers to the idea that learners construct
knowledge for themselves-each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning-as
he or she learns. Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind. The dramatic
consequences of this view are twofold;
 we have to focus on the learner in thinking about learning (not on the
subject/lesson to be taught):
 There is no knowledge independent of the meaning attributed to experience
(constructed) by the learner, or community of learners. Knowledge is dependent to
the experiences/constructions of the learner.
However, constructivist theory requires that we turn our attention by 180 degrees we
must turn our back on any idea of an all-encompassing machine which describes nature
and instead look towards all those wonderful, individual living beings-the learners-each of
whom creates his or her own model to explain nature. If we accept the constructivist
position we are inevitably required to follow a pedagogy which argues that we must
provide learners with the opportunity to:
a) interact with sensory data, and
b) construct their own world.
This second point is a little harder for us to swallow, and most of us constantly think twice
between faith that our learners will indeed construct meaning which we will find
acceptable (whatever we mean by that) and our need to construct meaning for them; that
is, to structure situations that are not free for learners to carry out their own mental
actions, but "learning" situations which channel them into our ideas about the meaning of
experience.
3.1
Constructivist Principles of learning
Page
3.2
Constructivist Approach to Learning
Constructivism is a new approach in education that claims humans are better able to
7
understand the information they have constructed
by themselves. According to
0
constructivist theories, learning is a social advancement that involves language, real world
situations, and interaction and collaboration among learners. The learners are considered
70
What are some guiding principles of constructivist thinking that we must keep in mind
when we consider our role as educators? Let us outline a few ideas, all predicated on the
belief that learning consists of individuals' constructed meanings and then indicate how
they influence education.
 Learning is an active process in which the learner uses sensory input and constructs
meaning out of it.
 People learn to learn as they learn
 The crucial action of constructing meaning is mental
 Learning involves language
 Learning is a social activity
 Learning is contextual
 One needs knowledge to learn
 It takes time to learn
 Motivation is a key component in learning
to be central in the learning process. Learning is affected by our prejudices, experiences,
the time in which we live, and both physical and mental maturity. When motivated, the
learner exercises his will, determination, and action to gather selective information,
convert it, formulate hypotheses, test these suppositions via applications, interactions or
experiences, and to draw verifiable conclusions. Constructivism transforms today’s
classrooms into a knowledge-construction site where information is absorbed and
knowledge is built by the learner.
With the use of the web, the learner can now conduct research, interact with diverse
populations, share ideas, and work on group projects. The assessment tool in a
constructivist classroom is not a test or a quiz, rather it is the learner product; most of the
time this is in a Portfolio format that has been designed by the learner.
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two eminent figures in the development of constructivist
theories. They share the common belief that classrooms must be constructivist
environments; however, there are differences in terms of their theories and variations as
to how constructivism should be carried out in classrooms.
4.
JEAN PIAGET (1896-1980)
Page
7
1 Piaget
Figure 4.a. Jean
71
Jean Piaget was born in Newchatel, Switzerland. At an early age he showed a keen interest
in observing animals in their natural environment. At the age of 10 he published his first
article, a description of an albino sparrow which he had observed in the park; before he
was 18 years old, journals had accepted several of his papers on the subject of molluses
(snail). During his adolescent years a second major intellectual interest grew from his
study of philosophy, in particular the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge Epistemology. His undergraduate studies however were in the field of biology and his
doctoral dissertation was on molluses.
Jean Piaget stressed the importance of biological maturation in the thinking process. He
saw human being as an integrated whole and assumed that there must be some common
denominators in biological and mental functioning. One of these, he suggested, is the
concept of adaptation. Most living creatures are capable of adaptation when they
compelled to do so. Adaptation is the act of changing your behaviour to make it suitable
for a new purpose or situation. The human body adapt to its environment in the process
of intellectual growth. The whole sequence of change that Piaget saw in a child’s cognitive
development is the result of a gradual process of adaptation to experiences. In this way
Piaget emphases the role of learning as well as biology. He viewed the development of
cognitive skills as an interaction between the child’s maturational level and its learning
experiences.
4.1
Piaget’s Constructivism
Jean Piaget remembered for his extensive research on developmental psychology,
explains the learning process by schemes (the organization of information on how things
work), assimilation (the placing of new information into schemes), and accommodation
(transforming existing schemes or creating new ones). The motivation for learning is the
predisposition of the learner to adapt to his environment, hence to institute equilibrium
between schemes and the environment. Continuous interactions among existing schemes,
assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium create new learning.
Piaget’s developmental theory of learning and constructivism are based on discovery.
According to his constructivist theory, in order to provide an ideal learning environment,
children should be allowed to construct knowledge that is meaningful for them.
4.2
Cognitive learning theory of Piaget
7
2
A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret
information. Schemas can be useful because they allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting
Page
4.2.1 Schema
Piaget used the term ‘schema’ (plural, ‘schemas’ or ‘schemata’) to mean a component of
the cognitive structure or the pattern of behaviour used by individuals while dealing with
objects or situations in the environment. This is the result of the individuals forming a
mental image of experiences and registering it in their cognitive structure. As
development proceeds each pattern enlarges and changes in accordance with the nature
of the mental images formed. A ‘schema’ is something like a computer programme that
people construct for dealing with complex problems. Just as a particular programmes in a
computer provides the same response in different situations, each specific schema in the
cognitive structure of an individual leads him to similar responses on different occasions.
Babies learn about objects by sucking on them, biting them, banging them and throwing
them. when the infant encounters a new object how are they to know what the object is all
about? According to Piaget they will use the schema they have developed and will find out
whether it gives milk, whether it moves or makes a loud or soft sound.
72
Piaget had profound interest in epistemology – branch of philosophy concerned with
nature of knowledge. He asserts that learning is a function of development. Piaget
introduced a number of concepts in order to explain the cognitive development theory.
These include;
the vast amount of information that is available in our environment. However, these
mental frameworks also cause us to exclude pertinent information to instead focus only
on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas. Schemas can contribute to
stereotypes and make it difficult to retain new information that does not conform to our
established ideas about the world.
Schemas are mental images developed from experience or behavioural pattern formed
from an experience. Different types of schemas are
 Physical schema: Idea of physical object. Object based- Early childhood is the
best stage to develop physical schema.
 Social schema: Schemas developed from social experience is through
interaction with society.
 Physiological schemas- bodily related schemas
 Language schema
Cognitive structure is the totality of these all schemas.
4.2.2 Schema - Examples
For example, a young child may first develop a schema for a horse. S/he knows that a
horse is large, has hair, four legs and a tail. When the little boy/girl encounters a cow for
the first time, s/he might initially call it a horse. After all, it fits in with her schema for the
characteristics of a horse; it is a large animal that has hair, four legs and a tail. Once s/he is
told that this is a different animal called a cow, s/he will modify his/her existing schema
for a horse and create a new schema for a cow. Now, let's imagine that this very young
boy/girl encounters a miniature horse for the first time and mistakenly identifies it as a
dog. His/her parents explain to his/her that the animal is actually a very small type of
horse, so the little boy/girl must this time modify his/her existing schema for horses. S/he
now realizes that while some horses are very large animals, others can be very small.
Through his/her new experiences, his/her existing schemas are modified and new
information is learned.
Page
4.2.4. Adaptation
By adaptation Piaget means the striving of the organism for balance or equilibrium with
the environment, which is achieved through the complimentary processes of assimilation
and accommodation.
 Assimilation: Assimilation means “taking in” or incorporating new experience
(schema) and fits into an existing schema. In other words it is “the fitting in” new
schema with already existing cognitive structure or making unfamiliar to familiar.
It is similar to putting a new data into a computer as part of an existing
programme. E.g.: a child may have learnt the words ‘dog’ and ‘car’. For a while all
animals are called ‘dogs’ (i.e., different animals take into a schema related to child’s
understanding of dog or all four-wheeled
7 vehicles might be considered as ‘cars’).
This process is balanced by accommodation.
3
73
4.2.3. Organization
Piaget used this term to refer to the inborn capacities to co-ordinate existing cognitive
structures or schemas and combine them into more complex systems. E.g.: the infant of 3
months has learned to combine, looking and grasping with the earlier reflex of sucking.
S/he can do all three together when feeding, an ability which the new born baby did not
have.

Accommodation: Accommodation means a change or modification in a person’s
concepts or strategies because of the new information that has been assimilated.
Accommodation is the process by which one’s thought patterns are modified in
order to fit himself into the environment. Piaget uses the term accommodation to
describe the changing of an existing schema to fit it with new experiences. Thus a
baby assimilates when he internalizes and perceives the new experience in the
light of his old perceptions. But when a baby forms a new schema by modifying or
changing his old perceptions with a view to adjust with the new experience it is a
process of accommodation. In this way a baby forms new structure or new
schemata and consequently develops cognitively.
4.2.5. Distinguish assimilation and accommodation: According to Piaget, emergence
of new cognitive abilities occurs as a result of the modification of the behaviour patterns
that are present at the time of birth. These patterns of behaviour constitute the structural
units of human mind that he called schemes. Schemas are the basic structural units of
human mind. It is the mental model which incorporate the characteristics of a person,
objects, events or procedures.
Table 4. a. Assimilation versus Accommodation
Assimilation
 It is a process of mental representation
(schema)
by
modifying
one’s
environment or new experiences.
 It takes place many previous experiences
is used to comprehend a new experience
in its familiar form.
 Which is more appropriate for old
experiences.
 Integration of new information with
existing internal mental structure.
E.g.:- A child who has learned only red colours
may identified a man wearing a pink shirt with
red colour.
Accommodation
 It is a process of modification of
existing sensory motor patterns
with a new situation.
 It involves transformation of an
old schema or learning in new
situation.
 Which is more appropriate for
new experience.
 The process of the adjustment or
change of mental structure.
E.g.:- The moment child learns to
discriminate but a red shirt and pink
shirt.
7
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
4
4.3.1. The sensory-motor stage (0-2 years)
Page
4.3.
74
4.2.6: Equilibration
The cognitive structure which is built up with schemata changes from one developmental
stage to another by the process of equilibration i.e., maintaining balance between the child
and his changing environment. A baby who hangs an egg has to deal with a situation that
cannot be fully handled by existing schemata. This creates a state of disequilibrium or an
imbalance between what is understood and what is encountered. This results in distress.
In such as case the individual tries to avoid the distress by reducing such imbalances. This
is done by focusing attention on the stimuli that have caused the disequilibrium and by
developing new schemata or adopting old one until equilibrium is restored. This is
achieved by assimilation and accommodation. This process of restoring balance is called
Equilbration. Piaget believes that learning depends on this process.
This pre-language period is marked by motor actions and sensations. The child will be
engaged mostly in the acquisition of motor skills. Simple learning occurs but the child
does not think at this stage. But the early sensory-motor experiences of the child have a
great bearing on the development of his later intellectual abilities. In the world of the child
an object exists when it is physically present. S/he them gains some consciousness about
the stability of the object.
S/he starts comprehending casually. It is sometimes said that the child’s mental
development at this stage is equal to that of an intelligent animal. The development of the
concept of object permanence is one of the major accomplishments of this period and is
not fully complete until the child is about 18 months of age. By the end of 2 years the child
develops a sense of the relationship among objects and between objects and his/her own
body.
During this period, the intellectual development is characterized by four fundamental
constructions.
a) Object Concept Formation: Here children comes to realize that objects occupy
space but it is concerned with present.
b) Co-ordinated space: The child acquires the special concept. He learns to grasp
objects and thus becomes aware of the special relations between objects.
c) Objectified casuality: Any action of the child brings about an effect is taken as the
cause of that event. E.g.: when the child kicks a ball, it, rolls off, then he realize
kicking casuality with the effort produced.
d) d) Objectification of time: The child gets the perception obtained but it is
concerned with the present. The child also acquire the ability to represent objects
or events with the few words in their vocabularies.
7
5
4.3.3. The Concrete Operational Period (7-11 years)
Page
Piaget divided this stage into the pre-conceptual period (2-4 years) and the intuitive
period (4-7 years).
a) The pre-conceptual period (2-4 years): The pre-conceptual period builds on the
capacity for internal or symbolic, thought which was developed in the sensory
motor period. There is a rapid increase in children’s language which results from
the development or symbolic thought. His triangle may be used as racing car, a
stick may be used as a gun and so on. The child now becomes ego centric that is
primarily concerned about oneself.
b) Intuitive stage (4-7 years): During this period, cognitive behaviour of the child is
still controlled by perception. The thinking of the child is not logical; it will be
based mostly on intuition. Intuitive thought is primarily concerned with static
conditions, but the child is able to use concepts as stable generalizations of his past
and present experiences. He however cannot adequately link a whole set of
successive conditions into a integrated totality. The child can grasp only one
relationship at a time because he has not developed the ability for reversibility.
While, thinking i.e., in the thinking process, the child is unable to lecture to his
starting point. If you have an intuitive idea/feeling about something, you feel that,
it is true although you have no evidence or proof of it. During this stage intelligence
intuitive in nature.
75
4.3.2. Pre-Operational period (2-7 years)
This, is the stage when child develops logical thought Piaget uses the term operational
thought to indicate this change. Operation investment to represent action which can be
manipulated in the mind, which are reversible and which form part of an integrated
system of mental actions. The child develops logical operations from simple associations.
S/he learn to add, substract, multiply and divide. S/he is in a position to classify concrete
objects. These operations are called concrete because they relate directly to objects. Then
these operations do not involve abstract thinking Piaget has coined a new term ‘grouping’
to describe a set of operations. S/he has given a long list of operations which make it
possible to handle numbers in tune with various relations to each other, to group objects
into classes and subclasses and to seriate objects according one or more attributes.
Educational implications of Piaget’s theory
 It provides a broad development perspective to the educator for building a
curriculum for the children.
 The description of developmental stages and qualitative aspects of
intellectual growth is very useful in providing suitable educational
practices.
 The cognitive theory states that the child is to be actively involved in the
teaching-learning process for his intellectual growth.
 Piaget based curriculum requires that children should not skip any stage.
 The pre-school child is at the pre-operational level. The educational
programme at this stage should provide concrete operations.
 Educational programme should enable the child to integrate the
information.
 A child should be helped to develop internal consistency of the system.
 Drilling un skills us to be avoided.
4.5.
Criticism towards Piaget’s theory
 Some psychologists do not agree with the view of Piaget that infants are born
with some elementary mental structures that are starting points for their
attempts to deal with their environment.
 More recent researchers have found that child can perform tasks either earlier
7
than Piaget predict (for concrete operations)
or only later than he predicted
6
(for formal operation). His stage model
has clearly been “stretched” well away
from its original periods.
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4.4.
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4.3.4. Formal Operational Stage (After 11 years)
At this stage the thought process of the child becomes quite systematic and reasonably
well integrated. The individual no longer requires concrete material for thinking for he
has required a capacity for abstract thought and he can reasoning using hypothesis. They
begin from observations and figure out some theory or system, but until they are about 12
or 13, they cannot reverse the process and go from the theory to hypothesizing something
that ought to be seen beyond their own specific, concrete observations. By about 12 years,
the child starts to employ a form of hypothetic deductive reasoning. Now he can approach
problems by reflecting and determining. All possible solutions before testing to see which
of them is correct. He shows particular orientation to problem solving. He isolates and
controls the relevant variables and seeks logical justification and verification of his
solutions.
5.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH TO LEARNING
5.1. LEV SEMENOVICH VYGOTSKY (1896 – 1934)
Vykotsky's social constructivism is considered as one of the milestones in the
advancement of psychology and education. It paved the way for pedagogical reforms in
the current practice.
Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) was born in Bylorussia, USSR studied at the
University of Moscow to become a teacher of literature. His first research as a young
scholar focused on artistic creation. It was only from 1924 on that his career changed
dramatically as he started working in the areas of developmental Psychology, Education
and Psychopathology. He pursued these interests at a highly productive pace until he died
of tuberculosis in 1934 at a very young age (38 years). In his brief life-span he acquired
vast knowledge not only of Psychology but also of the Social Sciences, Philosophy,
Linguistics and Literature.
Figure 5.a. Lev Vygotsky
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5.1.1. Vygotsky’s Constructivism
7
7
77
During his student days at the University of Moscow, he read widely in linguistics,
sociology, psychology, philosophy and the arts. His systematic work in psychology did not
begin until 1924. Ten years later he died of tuberculosis at the age of 38. His works were
published after his death in 1934 and suppressed in 1936 and were not known in the west
until 1958.
His most famous work is Thought and Language published shortly after his death,
developed for the first time a theory of language development. Because Vygotsky’s focus
was on cognitive development, it is interesting to compare his views with those of Bruner
and Piaget.
Vygotsky, known for his theory of social constructivism, believes that learning and
development is a collaborative activity and that children are cognitively developed in the
context of socialization and education. The perceptual, attention, and memory capacities
of children are transformed by vital cognitive tools provided by culture, such as history,
social context, traditions, language, and religion. For learning to occur, the child first
makes contact with the social environment on an interpersonal level and then internalizes
this experience. The earlier notions and new experiences influence the child, who then
constructs new ideas. Vygotsky’s (1978, p. 56) example of being able to point a finger
displays how this behavior, which begins as a simple motion, becomes a meaningful
movement when others react to the gesture.
5.1.2. The Vygotskian Classroom
A Vygotskian classroom emphasizes creating one’s own concepts and making knowledge
one’s property; this requires that school learning takes place in a meaningful context,
alongside the learning that occurs in the real world. As seen earlier in the Piagetian
classroom, this model also promotes the active participation and collaboration of
distinctive learners. The Vygotskian classroom stresses assisted discovery through
teacher-student and student-student interaction. Some of the cognitive strategies that
group members bring into the classroom are questioning, predicting, summarizing, and
clarifying.
In a Vygotskian classroom, dynamic support and considerate guidance are provided based
on the learner’s needs, but no will or force is dictated. Students are exposed to
discussions, research collaborations, electronic information resources, and project groups
that work on problem analysis. Some examples of classroom activities that might be used
in a constructive classroom are as follows:
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5.1.3.1.
First Stage (Social Speech)
Here the child interact with the society (outer environment) through meaningless
general verbal prompts and body actions. Social speech increases when there is someone
to hear him/her, and reduces when there nobody and the social speech is acquired from
society.
According to Vygotsky, children’s skills and personalities develop as they take part
in co-operative dialogue with skilled parents on tasks that are within their zone of
proximal development. Zone of Proximal Development is Vygotsky's term for the range of
tasks that are too complex to be mastered alone but can be accomplished with guidance
and encouragement from a more skillful partner.
5.1.3.2.
Second Stage (Private Speech)
Vygotsky says that private speech is self-directed speech that children use to plan
and guide their own behaviour. It is children’s frequent talks to theirselves as they play
7
and explore the environment.
8
If the task is difficult or complex the intensity of private speech increases. He
reasoned that children speak to themselves for self guidance and self-direction. Because
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5.1.3. Language Development
Language is tool to organize thought (Vygotsky, 1962). He says that language is
very important for the development of thought (cognition). He says that language
develops from, social speech (external idea exchange speech) then to private speech and
last to inner speech. It can be said as stage of language development.
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5.1.5. The Major Principles
a) Children construct knowledge: Learners create their own representations of
knowledge.
b) Learning can lead development
 Maturational pre-requests are needed for certain learning. E.g. Age, Previous
knowledge.
 Great value to assisting children to use strategies to further their intellectual
capacities.
 Zone of Proximal Development [ZPD], i.e. the distance between the child’s
actual development level and his potential level of development.
 Scaffolding and reciprocal teaching: Scaffolding is the hand support to be given
by the teacher to the child until the child becomes able to study independently.
Reciprocal teaching allows for the creation of a dialogue between students and
teachers.
c) Development cannot be separated from its social context.
 Similar structure of mind in all human being
 Two levels of mental functioning – lower and higher
 For Vygotsky, the social context influences more than just attitudes and beliefs.
They have profound influence on how we think, as well as what we think.
d) Languages plays a central role in mental development.
 Languages as the transmitter of the cultural tools.
 Languages as the medium that carries experience into mind.
e) Semiotic Mediation (Semiotic is the academic study of relationships of language and
other signs to their meaning)
 Learning from outside through psychological tools such as languages systems,
counting systems, writing etc.
 Psychological tools to control behaviour.
 According to Vygotsky some of the examples for semiotic means are : Language,
various systems of counting, mnemonic techniques, work of art/painting,
writing, diagrams, maps and so on. E.g. Traffic signal/symbols.
 Mediation is the key in his approach to understanding how human mental
7
functioning is tired to cultural, institutional
and historical settings.
9
f) Internalization
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language help children think about their own behaviour and select course of action.
Vygostsky regarded it as the foundation for complex cognitive skills such as controlled,
sustained attention, deliberate memorization and recall, categorization, planning, problem
solving and self-reflection. Here the child gives to sound to the acquired social speech.
5.1.3.3.
Third Stage (Inner Speech/Verbal thought)
As children get older and tasks become easier, their self-directed speech declines
and is internalized as salient, inner speech. It can be said as the verbal dialogues we carry
on with ourselves while thinking and acting in everyday situations.
5.1.4. Meaning of Words
Meaning of words, says Vygotsky, are the smallest element of thought and
language. Word’s meaning is active and changing according to circumstances. Word
meaning is only a part of word consciousness. Word consciousness includes all mental
actions in our cognition produced by a word. The relation between moral thought goes on
changing. Thought get stability through words by fixing connection with matter (things).
 A representational activity that occurs simultaneously in social practice and in
the human mind.
 Transformation of communicative language into inner speech and further into
verbal thinking. E.g. Result of listening to a spiritual speech.
5.1.6. The Origins of Thought and Language According to Vygotsky
Like in animals, thought and speech have different roots in humankind. Thought
being non verbal and language being non-intellectual in an early stage. But their
development lines are not parallel - they cross again and again. At a certain moment
around the age of two, the curves of development of thought and speech until then
separate, meet and join to initiate a new form of behaviour. That is when thought becomes
verbal and speech becomes rational, a child first seeks interaction, but at some point this
language goes underground to become the structure of the child's thinking.
5.1.7. Vygotsky's Social Constructivism
According to Vygotsky, all fundamental cognitive activities take shape in a matrix
of social history and form the products of socio historical development. That is, cognitive
skills and patterns of thinking are not primarily determined by innate factors, but are the
products of the activities practiced in the social institutions of the culture in which the
individual grows up. Consequently, the history of the society in which a child is reared and
the child's personal history are crucial determinants of the way in which that individual
will think. In this process of cognitive development, language is a crucial tool for
determining how the child will learn how to think because advanced modes of thought are
transmitted to the child by means of words.
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5.1.9. Educational implications of Zone of Proximal Development -ZPD
According to Vygotsky all fundamental cognitive activities take shape in a matrix of social
history and form the products of socio-historical development i.e., cognitive skills and
patterns of thinking are not primarily determined by innate factors, but are the product of
activities practiced in a social institutions of the culture, in which the individual grows up.
Level of actual development is the level of development that the learner has already
reached, at a given time. It is the level at which the learner is capable of solving problems
independently at a given time. The level of potential development is the level that the
learner is capable of reaching under the guidance of teacher or in collaboration with
peers. ZPD is the gap between the levels of actual development and that of potential
development.
One essential tenet in Vygotksy's theory is the 8notion of the existence of what he called the
"zone of proximal development". Zone of proximal
development is the difference between
0
the child's capacity to solve problems on his own, and his capacity to solve them with
assistance. In other words, the actual developmental level refers to all the functions and
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5.1.8. Thought, Language and Intellectual Development
To Vygotsky, a clear understanding of the interrelations between thought and
language is necessary for the understanding of intellectual development. Language is not
merely an expression of the knowledge the child has acquired. There is a fundamental
correspondence between thought and speech in terms of one providing resource to the
other. Language becoming essential in forming thought and determining personality
features.
activities that a child or a learner can perform only with the assistance of someone else.
The person in this scaffolding process, providing non-intrusive intervention, could be an
adult (parent, teacher, caretaker, language instructor) or another peer who has already
mastered that particular function.
5.1.10.
Styles of Learning
The term "learning style" has been used in the literature in two distinct ways: (1) It
has been used to indicate a broad description of relatively consistent behaviours related
to ways of going about learning. It is treated as an individual difference of generality
comparable to intelligence or personality, but describing consistency in the ways people
tackle learning tasks. (2) The definition has been narrowed considerably to parallel the
idea of cognitive style, with the use of bipolar traits, but described in relation to the
learning tasks commonly found in educational contexts, as opposed to scores on
psychological tests. Both uses of the term imply that learning style is related to both to
cognitive processes and to personality, but in the broader definition, the emphasis is more
cognitive, while the narrower definition is closer to personality. In both senses, the term
has been used to cover a range of concepts which have emerged from attempts to describe
aspects of student learning.
1
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5.1.12.
Examples of constructivist activities
Some activities encouraged in const.ructivist classrooms are:
 Experimentation: students individually perform an experiment and then come
together as a class to discuss the results.
 Research projects: students research a topic and can present their findings to the
class.
 Field trips. This allows students to put the concepts and ideas discussed in class in
a real-world context. Field trips would often be followed by class discussions.
 Films. These provide visual context and thus bring another sense into the learning
experience.
 Class discussions. This technique is used in all of the methods described above. It is
one of the most important distinctions of constructivist teaching methods.
Constructivist approaches can also be used in online learning. For example, tools such as
discussion forums, wikis and blogs can enable learners to actively construct knowledge. A
contrast between the traditional classroom and the constructivist classroom is illustrated
below:
8
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5.1.11.
Why should teachers follow Vygotskyan view points?
If teachers apply the principles put forward by Vygotsky, effective learning takes
place which results in better output.
 Provide amble opportunities to the pupil to learn on their own.
 Give scaffolding at the suitable time and lead the child to self study.
 Provide group learning environments in the classroom.
 Collaborative learning and co-operative learning will enhance effective learning.
 The physical class room based on Vygotsky’s theory, would provide clustered
desks or tables and provide space for peer instruction, collaboration and small
group instruction.
 Class room should become a community of learning.
5.1.13.
Role of teachers
David Jonassen identified three major roles for facilitators to support students in
constructivist learning environments:
 Modeling
 Coaching
 Scaffolding
A brief description of the Jonassen major roles are:

6.
HUMANISTIC APPROACH TO LEARNING
Humanistic psychology, also often referred to as humanism, emerged during the 1950s as
a reaction to the psychoanalysis and behaviorism that dominated psychology at the time.
Psychoanalysis was focused on understanding the unconscious motivations that drive
behavior while behaviorism studied the conditioning processes that produce behavior.
Humanist thinkers felt that both psychoanalysis and behaviorism were too pessimistic,
either focusing on the most tragic of emotions or failing to take into account the role of
personal choice.
Humanistic psychology was instead focused on each individual's potential and stressed
8
the importance of growth and self-actualization.
The fundamental belief of humanistic
2
psychology is that people are innately good and that mental and social problems result
from deviations from this natural tendency.
82

Modeling – Jonassen describes Modeling as the most commonly used instructional
strategy in classes. Two types of modeling exist: behavioural modeling of the overt
performance and cognitive modeling of the covert cognitive processes. Behavioural
modeling in Constructivist Learning Environments demonstrates how to perform
the activities identified in the activity structure. Cognitive modeling articulates the
reasoning (reflection-in-action) that learners should use while engaged in the
activities.
Coaching – For Jonassen the role of coach is complex and inexact. She
acknowledges that a good coach motivates learners, analyzes their performance,
provides feedback and advice on the performance and how to learn about how to
perform, and provokes reflection and articulation of what was learned. Moreover,
she posits that coaching may be solicited by the learner. Students seeking help
might press a “How am I Doing?” button. Or coaching may be unsolicited, when the
coach observes the performance and provides encouragement, diagnosis,
directions, and feedback. Coaching naturally and necessarily involves responses
that are situated in the learner’s task performance (Laffey, Tupper, Musser, &
Wedman, 1997).
Scaffolding - Scaffolding is a more systemic approach to supporting the learner,
focusing on the task, the environment, the teacher, and the learner. Scaffolding
provides temporary frameworks to support learning and student performance
beyond their capacities. The concept of scaffolding represents any kind of support
for cognitive activity that is provided by an adult when the child and adult are
performing the task together (Wood & Middleton, 1975).
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
Some of the major ideas and concepts that emerged as a result of the humanist movement
include an emphasis on things such as:
 Self-concept
 Hierarchy of needs
 Unconditional positive regard
 Free will (do thing by choice, not because of forced to do it)
 Client-centred therapy
 Self-actualization
 Fully-functioning person
 Peak experiences
6.1. Major Thinkers in Humanistic Psychology
The early development of humanistic psychology was heavily influenced by the works of a
few key theorists, especially Maslow and Rogers.
 Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) - American psychologist
 Carl Rogers (1902-1987) - American psychologist
 Rollo May (1909-1994) - American psychologist
 Erich Fromm (1900-1980) - German psychologist
Important Events in Humanistic Psychology
 1943 - Abraham Maslow described his hierarchy of needs in "A Theory
of Human Motivation" published in Psychological Review.
 1951 - Carl Rogers published Client-Centered Therapy, which described
his humanistic, client-directed approach to therapy.
 1961 - The American Association for Humanistic Psychology is formed
and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology was established.
 1962 - American Association for Humanistic Psychology was formed.
 1971 - Humanistic psychology becomes an APA division.
6.2. CARL RANSOM ROGERS (1902-1987)
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6.2.1. Timeline of Events:
 Born January 8, 1902
 1902 - Carl Rogers was born in Oak Park, Illinois.
 1919 - Enrolled at University of Wisconsin.
 1924 - Graduated from University of Wisconsin and enrolled at Union
Theological Seminary.
 1926 - Transferred to Columbia.
 1931- Earned Ph.D. from Columbia.
 1940 - Began teaching at University of Ohio.
 1946 - Elected president of American
8 Psychological Association (APA).
3
 1951 - Published Client-centered Therapy.
 1961 - Published On Becoming A Person.
83
With his emphasis on human potential, Carl Rogers had an enormous influence on both
psychology and education. Beyond that, he is considered by many to be one of the most
influential psychologists of the 20th century. More therapists cite Rogers as their primary
influence than any other psychologist. As described by his daughter Natalie Rogers, he was "a
model for compassion and democratic ideals in his own life, and in his work as an educator,
writer, and therapist."



1980 - Published A Way of Being.
1987 - Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
Died February 4, 1987
6.2.2. Selected Works By Carl Rogers:
 Rogers, C. (1951) Client-centered Therapy: Its current practice, implications and
theory.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
 Rogers, C. (1961) On Becoming A Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotheraphy
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
 Rogers, C. (1980) A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
According to Carl Rogers, a fully functioning person is one who is in touch with his or her
deepest and innermost feelings and desires. These individuals understand their own
emotions and place a deep trust in their own instincts and urges. Unconditional positive
regard plays an essential role in becoming a fully functioning person.
Figure 6.2.a. Carl Rogers
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6.2.3. Self Actualization
"The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain, and enhance
the experiencing organism” (Rogers, 1951, p. 487).
Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and
maintained that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation. "As no
one else can know how we perceive, we are the8 best experts on ourselves."
4 one basic motive, that is the tendency to
Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have
self-actualize - i.e. to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-
84
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main
assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a person to "grow", they need an
environment that provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure),
acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened
to and understood). Without these, relationships and healthy personalities will not
develop as they should, much like a tree will not grow without sunlight and water.
Rogers believed that every person can achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life.
When, or rather if they did so, self actualization took place. This was one of Carl Rogers
most important contributions to psychology and for a person to reach their potential a
number of factors must be satisfied.
beingness' we can. Like a flower that will grow to its full potential if the conditions are
right, but which is constrained by its environment, so people will flourish and reach their
potential if their environment is good enough.
However, unlike a flower, the potential of the individual human is unique, and we are
meant to develop in different ways according to our personality. Rogers believed that
people are inherently good and creative. They become destructive only when a poor selfconcept or external constraints override the valuing process. Carl Rogers believed that for
a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence (similarity,
equivalence, resemblance).
6.2.4. The Fully Functioning Person
Rogers identified five characteristics of the fully functioning person:
1. Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative
feelings are not denied, but worked through (rather than resort to ego defence
mechanisms).
2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding
prejudging and preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present,
not always looking back to the past or forward to the future (i.e. living for the
moment).
3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted.
People’s own decisions are the right ones and we should trust ourselves to make
the right choices.
For Rogers, fully functioning people are well adjusted, well balanced and interesting to
know. Often such people are high achievers in society. Critics claim that the fully
functioning person is a product of Western culture. In other cultures, such as Eastern
cultures, the achievement of the group is valued more highly than the achievement of any
one person.
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Central to Rogers' personality theory is the notion of self or self-concept. This is defined
as "the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself".
The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person. The self is our inner
personality, and can be likened to the soul, or Freud's psyche. The self is influenced by the
experiences a person has in their life, and out interpretations of those experiences. Two
primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and evaluation
by others.
The humanistic approach states that the self is composed of concepts unique to ourselves.
The self-concept includes three components:
 Self worth (or self-esteem) – what we think about ourselves. Rogers believed
feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the
interaction of the child with the mother and father.
 Self-image – How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological
health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. At
a simple level, we might perceive ourselves
as a good or bad person, beautiful or
8
ugly. Self-image has an effect on how5 a person thinks feels and behaves in the
world.
85
6.2.5. Personality Development

Ideal self – This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and
ambitions in life, and is dynamic – i.e. forever changing. The ideal self in childhood
is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc.
6.2.6. Self Worth and Positive Regard
Carl Rogers (1951) viewed the child as having two basic needs: positive regard from other
people and self-worth.
How we think about ourselves, our feelings of self-worth are of fundamental importance
both to psychological health and to the likelihood that we can achieve goals and ambitions
in life and achieve self-actualization.
6.2.7. What is Unconditional Positive Regard?
"It means caring for the client, but not in a possessive way or in such a way as simply to
satisfy the therapist's own needs," explained in Rogers in a 1957 article published in the
Journal of Consulting Psychology. "It means caring for the client as a separate person, with
permission to have his own feelings, his own experiences."
Rogers believed that it was essential for therapists to show unconditional positive regard
to their clients. He also suggested that individuals who don't have this type of acceptance
from people in their life can eventually come to hold negative beliefs about themselves.
6.2.8. Self Theory (1947)
Carl Rogers, American psychologist propounded the self theory based on his idea of clientcentred therapy. He stresses the importance of an individual’s self in determining the
process of his growth, development and appropriate adjustment to his environment.
Structure of Personality: Rogers considers that two basic systems are operating in the
personal reality (phenomenological field) of an individual- the organism and the self.
Phenomenological Field is a world of subjective experience, the personal and separate
reality of each individual. Phenomenology is the branch of philosophy, which deals with
consciousness, thought and experience.
1. The Organism: It represents the totality of one’s experience both conscious and
unconscious, is an entire frame of reference.
2. The Self: It is the accepted conscious part of experience. In other words, self is the
concept developed by an person about himself i.e., self concept. The self as a
system of one’s phenomenological field can perhaps best understood in terms our
concept of ‘I’, ‘me’, or ‘myself’.
6.2.9. Three Themes of Rogers and Dynamics of Personality
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6
86
The three major themes in Rogers theory is; Self actualization, Self maintenance and Self
enhancement. If a person fulfil self actualization, he is a fully functioning individual. Un
conditioned positive reward is essential for self actualization. Roger advocates continuity
of growth in terms of a continues evolution of the concept of ‘self’. Ones a concept ‘self’ is
formed the individual strives to maintain by regulating his behaviour.
6.2.10.
classroom
Non-Directive Counselling/Therapy and the role of teachers in
The development runs into trouble when the self tails for some reason to incorporate, and
learns to live with its own new thoughts, feelings or behaviour. The goal of a therapist, in
such cases lies in bringing the individual in a united way, from what he or she is not, to
what he/she really is. The pre-requisites of Non-Directive Counselling is that; Minimum
Willingness, Ability to communicate each other and Readiness and opportunity to receive
communication. The teachers in classroom; Always try to make congruence in children
and give equal importance is desire of self-esteem.
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6.2.12.
Nineteen propositions in Rogers' theory of the self
 All individuals (organisms) exist in a continually changing world of experience
(phenomenal field) of which they are the center.
 The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and perceived. This perceptual
field is "reality" for the individual.
 The organism reacts as an organized whole to this phenomenal field.
 A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the self.
 As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of
evaluational interaction with others, the structure of the self is formed - an
organized, fluid but consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics
and relationships of the "I" or the "me", together with values attached to these
concepts.
 The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain and
enhance the experiencing organism.
 The best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of
reference of the individual.
 Behavior is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs
as experienced, in the field as perceived.
 Emotion accompanies, and in general facilitates, such goal directed behavior, the
kind of emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behavior for the
maintenance and enhancement of the organism.
 The values attached to experiences, and the values that are a part of the selfstructure, in some instances, are values experienced directly by the organism, and
in some instances are values introjected or taken over from others, but perceived
in distorted fashion, as if they had been experienced directly.
 As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either, a) symbolized,
perceived and organized into some relation to the self, b) ignored because there is
no perceived relationship to the self structure, c) denied symbolization or given
8
distorted symbolization because the experience
is inconsistent with the structure
7
of the self.
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6.2.11.
Conditions of Self-Actualization
1. The person must respect and have faith in himself, his abilities to achieve his goal.
2. The person must be respected and loved by others.
3. The choices available to the individual must be clearly perceived.
4. The choices must be clearly symbolized.








Most of the ways of behaving that are adopted by the organism are those that are
consistent with the concept of self.
In some instances, behavior may be brought about by organic experiences and
needs which have not been symbolized. Such behavior may be inconsistent with
the structure of the self but in such instances the behavior is not "owned" by the
individual.
Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that all the
sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be, assimilated on a
symbolic level into a consistent relationship with the concept of self.
Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies awareness of
significant sensory and visceral experiences, which consequently are not
symbolized and organized into the gestalt of the self structure. When this situation
exists, there is a basic or potential psychological tension. Visceral feelings are
feelings that you feel very deeply and find it difficult to control or ignore, and that
are not the result of thought.
Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization of the structure of the
self may be perceived as a threat, and the more of these perceptions there are, the
more rigidly the self structure is organized to maintain itself.
Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of threat to the self
structure, experiences which are inconsistent with it may be perceived and
examined, and the structure of self revised to assimilate and include such
experiences.
When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and integrated
system all his sensory and visceral experiences, then he is necessarily more
understanding of others and is more accepting of others as separate individuals.
As the individual perceives and accepts into his self structure more of his organic
experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value system - based
extensively on introjections which have been distortedly symbolized - with a
continuing organismic valuing process.
Page
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Maslow was the oldest of seven children and was
classed as "mentally unstable" by a psychologist. His parents were first generation Jewish
immigrants from Russia who fled from Czarist persecution in the early 20th century. They
had decided to live in New York City and in a multiethnic, working-class neighbourhood.
His parents were poor and not intellectually oriented, but they valued education.
Maslow attended the City College of New York after high school. In 1926 he began taking
legal studies classes at night in addition to his undergraduate course load. He hated it and
almost immediately dropped out. In 1927 he transferred to Cornell, but he left after just
one semester due to poor grades and high costs. He later graduated from City College and
went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin to study psychology. In 1928, he
married his first cousin Bertha, who was still in high school at the time. The pair had met
in Brooklyn years earlier. Maslow's psychology training at University of Wisconsin was
decidedly experimental-behaviourist. At Wisconsin he pursued a line of research which
included investigating primate dominance behaviour and sexuality. Maslow's early
8 with a strong positivist mindset. Upon the
experience with behaviourism would leave him
8 Maslow wrote his master's thesis on
recommendation of Professor Hulsey Cason,
"learning, retention, and reproduction of verbal material". Maslow regarded the research
88
6.3. ABRAHAM MASLOW (1908-1970)
as embarrassingly trivial, but he completed his thesis the summer of 1931 and was
awarded his master's degree in psychology. He was so ashamed of the thesis that he
removed it from the psychology library and tore out its catalog listing. However, Professor
Carson admired the research enough to urge Maslow to submit it for publication.
Page
He continued his research at Columbia University, on similar themes. There he found
another mentor in Alfred Adler, one of Sigmund Freud's early colleagues. From 1937 to
1951, Maslow was on the faculty of Brooklyn College. His family life and his experiences
influenced his psychological ideas. After World War II, Maslow began to question the way
psychologists had come to their conclusions, and though he did not completely disagree,
he had his own ideas on how to understand the human mind. He called his new discipline
humanistic psychology. Maslow was already a 33-year old father and had two children
when the United States entered World War II in 1941. He was thus ineligible for the
military. However, the horrors of war instead inspired a vision of peace in him and this led
to his groundbreaking psychological studies of self-actualizing people. These studies
began with his two mentors, anthropologist Ruth Benedict and Gestalt psychologist Max
Wertheimer, whom he admired both professionally and personally. These two were so
accomplished in both realms, and such "wonderful human beings" as well, that Maslow
began taking notes about them and their behavior. This would be the basis of his lifelong
research and thinking about mental health and human potential. He wrote extensively on
the subject, borrowing ideas from other psychologists but adding significantly to them,
especially the concepts of a hierarchy of needs, metaneeds, metamotivation, selfactualizing persons, and peak experiences. Maslow was a professor at Brandeis University
from 1951 to 1969, and then became a resident fellow of the Laughlin Institute in
California. In 1967, Maslow had an almost fatal heart attack, and knew his time was
limited. Maslow considered himself to be a psychological pioneer. He gave future
psychologists a push by bringing to light different paths to ponder. He built the framework
that later allowed other psychologists to add in more information. Maslow long believed
that leadership should be non-intervening. Consistent with this approach, he rejected a
nomination in 1963 to be president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology because
he felt that the organization should develop an intellectual movement without a leader.
While jogging, Maslow suffered a severe heart8 attack and died on June 8, 1970 at the age
9
of 62 in Menlo Park, California.
89
Figure 6.3.a. Abraham Maslow
6.3.1. Humanistic Theory of Learning
Maslow's theory of learning highlighted the differences between experiential knowledge
and spectator knowledge. He regarded spectator, or scientific, knowledge to be inferior to
experiential. Properties of experiential learning include:
 immersion in the experience without awareness of the flow of time
 momentarily not being self-conscious
 transcending time, place, history, and society by being beyond and unaffected
by them
 merging with that which is being experienced
 being innocently receptive, as a child, uncritical
 suspending temporarily evaluation of the experience in terms of its importance
or unimportance
 lack of inhibition, subsiding of selfishness, fear, defensiveness
 experience unfolds naturally without striving or effort
 suspending criticism, validation, and evaluation of the experience
 trusting experience by passively letting it happen; letting go of preconceived
notions
 disengaging from logical, analytical, and rational activities
6.3.2. Humanistic Psychology
Abraham Maslow wasn't satisfied with the way things had always been done. He was a
psychologist, but he didn't like the way other psychologists viewed people. In the first half
of the 20th century, most psychologists believed one of two things about humans.
Behaviourists believed that people's behaviours were purely determined by rewards and
punishments. They viewed people as simply the product of conditioning; that is, if they got
rewarded for doing something, people would keep doing it over and over. On the other
hand, psychoanalysts believed that people were slaves to their urges. They believed that
subconscious desires drove our behaviours and feelings.
He developed humanistic psychology, which focuses on the potential of people to
become all that they can be. Other psychologists helped develop different elements of
humanistic psychology, but Maslow is largely considered to be the father of the humanist
movement in psychology. Let's look closer at his primary contributions to humanism,
including his 'hierarchy of needs' and his work to make humanism a recognized
psychological model.
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9
0
90
6.3.3. Humanistic theories of self-actualization
Humanistic psychologists believe that every person has a strong desire to realize his or
her full potential, to reach a level of "self-actualization". The main point of that new
movement, that reached its peak in 1960s, was to emphasize the positive potential of
human beings. Maslow positioned his work as a vital complement to that of Freud; "It is as
if Freud supplied us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the
healthy half."
This informed his theory that a person enjoys "peak experiences", high points in life when
the individual is in harmony with himself and his surroundings. In Maslow's view, selfactualized people can have many peak experiences throughout a day while others have
those experiences less frequently.
6.3.4. Qualities of self-actualizing people
Maslow noticed that self-actualized individuals had a better insight of reality, deeply
accepted themselves, others and the world, and also had faced many problems and were
known to be impulsive people. These self-actualized individuals were very independent
and private when it came to their environment and culture, especially their very own
individual development on "potentialities and inner resources". According to Maslow, selfactualizing people share the following qualities:
 Truth: honest, reality, beauty, pure, clean and unadulterated completeness
 Goodness: rightness, desirability, uprightness, benevolence, honesty
 Beauty: rightness, form, aliveness, simplicity, richness, wholeness, perfection,
completion,
 Wholeness: unity, integration, tendency to oneness, interconnectedness,
simplicity, organization, structure, order, not dissociated, synergy
 Dichotomy: transcendence: acceptance, resolution, integration, polarities,
opposites, contradictions
 Aliveness: process, not-deadness, spontaneity, self-regulation, full-functioning
 Unique: idiosyncrasy, individuality, non comparability, novelty
 Perfection: nothing superfluous, nothing lacking, everything in its right place,
just-rightness, suitability, justice
 Necessity: inevitability: it must be just that way, not changed in any slightest
way
 Completion: ending, justice, fulfillment
 Justice: fairness, suitability, disinterestedness, non partiality,
 Order: lawfulness, rightness, perfectly arranged
Page
6.3.6. Methodology
Maslow based his study on the writings of other psychologists, Albert Einstein and people
he knew who clearly met the standard of self-actualization. Maslow used Einstein's
writings and accomplishments to exemplify the characteristics of the self-actualized
person. But Ruth Benedict and Max Wertheimer were also Maslow's models of selfactualization. In this case, from a scientific perspective there are numerous problems with
this particular approach. First, it could be argued that biographical analysis as a method is
extremely subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher. Personal
opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity of any data obtained. Therefore
9
Maslow's operational definition of Self-actualization
must not be blindly accepted as
1
scientific fact.
91
6.3.5. Dynamics of self-actualization
Maslow based his theory partially on his own assumptions about human potential and
partially on his case studies of historical figures whom he believed to be self-actualized,
including Albert Einstein and Henry David Thoreau. Consequently, Maslow argued, the
way in which essential needs are fulfilled is just as important as the needs themselves.
Together, these define the human experience. To the extent a person finds cooperative
social fulfilment, he establishes meaningful relationships with other people and the larger
world. In other words, he establishes meaningful connections to an external reality - an
essential component of self-actualization. In contrast, to the extent that vital needs find
selfish and competitive fulfilment, a person acquires hostile emotions and limited external
relationships - his awareness remains internal and limited.
6.3.7. Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow developed a hierarchy, which is usually represented as a pyramid or a ladder. On
the bottom are the needs that must be fulfilled first. As you move up the hierarchy, the
needs become less and less about survival and more about becoming the best 'you'
possible. The levels of the hierarchy, listed from the lowest level and moving up, are:
 Physical needs, which are those that involve base biological or physiological
needs. These are things like food, water, and shelter.
 Safety needs involve things like protection from the elements, security, law, and
stability.
 Social needs fulfil the urge for love and belonging. This can come from romantic
relationships or from friendships, family, or work groups.
 Esteem needs are related to your sense of self-worth. They include things like selfesteem, achievement, and prestige.
 Self-actualization needs, which are at the top of the hierarchy, focus on realizing
your full potential. People who are working towards meeting these needs are
looking for self-fulfilment and personal growth.
Hierarchy of needs
Figure 6.3.b. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs
2
Page
Human needs as identified by Maslow:
 At the bottom of the hierarchy are the "Basic needs or Physiological needs" of a
human being: food, water, sleep and sex.
 The next level is "Safety Needs: Security, Order, and Stability". These two steps are
important to the physical survival of the person. Once individuals have basic
9
nutrition, shelter and safety, they attempt to accomplish more.
92
An interpretation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more
basic needs at the bottom


The third level of need is "Love and Belonging", which are psychological needs;
when individuals have taken care of themselves physically, they are ready to share
themselves with others, such as with family and friends.
The fourth level is achieved when individuals feel comfortable with what they have
accomplished. This is the "Esteem" level, the need to be competent and recognized,
such as through status and level of success.
6.3.8. Principles behind humanistic psychology
 Someone's present functioning is their most significant aspect. As a result
humanists emphasize the here and now instead of examining the past or
attempting to predict the future. 2. To be mentally healthy, individuals must
take personal responsibility for their actions, regardless of whether the
actions are positive or negative.
 Each person, simply by being, is inherently worthy. While any given action
may be negative, these actions do not cancel out the value of a person.
 The ultimate goal of living is to attain personal growth and understanding.
Only through constant self-improvement and self-understanding can an
individual ever be truly happy.
6.3.9. Peak experiences
Beyond the routine of needs fulfilment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary
experience, known as Peak experiences, which are profound moments of love,
understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which a person feels more whole, alive, selfsufficient and yet a part of the world, more aware of truth, justice, harmony, goodness, and
so on. Self-actualizing people have many such peak experiences. In other words, these
“peak experiences” or states of flow are the reflections of the realization of one’s human
potential and represent the height of personality development.
6.3.10.
Meta-motivation
Maslow used the term meta-motivation to describe self-actualized people who are driven
by innate forces beyond their basic needs, so that they may explore and reach their full
human potential.
Both Piaget and Vygotsky appreciated the essence of building constructs and internalizing
the knowledge given, rather than accepting the information as presented through rotememory. Constructivist learning environments promote the learner to gather, filter,
analyze, and reflect on the information provided and to comment on this knowledge so
that it will result in individualized comprehension and private learning.
This type of group learning will reduce the dissemination of false data, prejudice, and
atrocities among diverse groups and help build a moral, scientific, information society in
the new millennium. Be it developmental or social as suggested by Piaget and Vygotsky
respectively, learning is the central activity for humans in search for understanding the
causes and effects of natural phenomena, the progress
of social events, and the meaning of
9
life. By using such learning approaches we can3 better introduce our children to the world
that God has created for us, and lead them to think about the miracles that are all around
us. Humanistic psychology is often seen as too subjective; the importance of individual
93
CONCLUSION
Page
7.
experience makes it difficult to objectively study and measure humanistic phenomena.
How can we objectively tell if someone is self-actualized? The answer, of course, is that we
cannot. We can only rely upon the individual's own assessment of their experience.
Another major criticism is that observations are unverifiable; there is no accurate way to
measure or quantify these qualities.
8.
MODEL QUESTIONS
1. “Cognitive development of an individual is the result of his successful
attempt for equilibration”. – Explain the statement in terms of the key
concept formulated by Piaget.
2. Compare the contribution of Piaget in Educational Psychology.
3. Describe the humanistic approach to educational psychology put forth by
Carl Roger and Abraham Maslow.
4. Describe the humanistic approach to personality development, with special
reference to the views of Carl Rogers.
5. Explain the concept of ZPD.
6. Mention the contribution of Piaget in Educational Psychology.
7. What are the implications of Vygotskian view point?
8. Which are the important principles put forward by Vygotsky?
1. Association for Humanistic Psychology. (2001). Overview of humanistic psychology.
retrieved from http://www.ahpweb.org/aboutahp/whatis.html
2. Charles Catania (1992). Learning, 3rd Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Engle Wood
Cliffs, 1.
3. Cherry, K. What Is a Schema? retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/
od/sindex/g/def_schema.htm
4. David, A. Lieberman. (2000). Learning Behaviour and Cognition., 3rd Ed. Woods
Worth, a division of Thomon Learning-USA,
5. Gottberg, K. (2013). Self Esteem & Self Image - What’s The Difference & Why Does
It Matter?., retrieved from http://smartliving365.com/self-esteem-self-imagewhats-the-difference-why-does-it-matter/
6. Hein, G.E. (1991). Constructivist Learning Theory., retrieved from
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html
7. Kumar, S. & Noushad, P.P. (2006). Social Studies in the Class Room Trends and
Methods., Calicut: Scorpio Publishers
8. Mangal, S.K. (2000). Advanced Education Psychology, 6th Ed. New Delhi: Prentice
Hall of India (P) Ltd.,
9. Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being., (2nd ed.). Princeton, NJ: Van
Nostrand.
10. Mc Leod, S. A. (2007). Carl Rogers. Retrieved from http://www. simplypsychology.
org/ carl-rogers.html
9
11. Rogers, C. R. (1951). Client-centred therapy.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
4
12. Sakkeer, V., & Thamarasseri, I. (2013). Educational Psychology. New Delhi: APH
Publishing Corp.
94
REFERENCES
Page
9.
13. Shaffer, J. B. P. (1978). Humanistic Psychology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
14. Thamarasseri, I. (2008) Psychological Foundations of Education. New Delhi:
Kanishka Publishers
15. What is Unconditional Positive Regard?, retrieved from http://psychology
.about.com/od/uindex/g/unconditional-positive-regard.htm
16. Thamarasseri, Ismail. (2016). Learner and Learning. New Delhi: Dominant
Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd.
17. Thamarasseri, Ismail. (2016). Psychology of Learning. New Delhi: Dominant
Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd.
10. WEB RESOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_%28philosophy_of_education%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/constructivist_teaching_methods
http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Social_Constructivism
http://psychology.about.com/od/findex/g/fully-functioning-person.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/hist_humanistic.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_rogers.htm
http://www.fountainmagazine.com/Issue/detail/constructivism-in-Piaget-andVygotsky
9. http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/humanist.htm
10. http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/humanist/maslow.html
11. http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
Page
9
5
95
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
M.A. EDUCATION
EDUC203: PSYCHOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION II
UNIT 2 PERSONALITY AND ITS
DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT
PREPARED BY: DR. ISMAIL
THAMARASSERI
1. INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE

The contents of this unit are designed to develop critical appraisal and
understanding about personality in terms of its Nature, Development and
Assessment.
2. INTRODUCTION
In educational world the term ‘personality’ has a wide significance. Education is
considered with an all-round development of the personality of a child, therefore, it is quit
essential for a educator or pupil teacher to know about the term personality.
Page
Personality is a term that has many general meanings. Sometimes the word refers to the
ability to get along well socially. For example, we speak of experiences or relationships,
which are said to give a person “more personality.” The term may also refer to the most
striking impression that an individual makes on other people. We may say, ‘she has a shy
personality’. To a psychologist, personality is an area of study that deals with complex
9
human behaviour, including emotions, actions,
and cognitive or thought processes.
6
Psychologists study the patterns of behaviour that make individuals different from one
another.
96
The term personality has been derived from the Latin world ‘persona’ that was associated
with Greek theatre in ancient times, persona was meant a mask which the Greek actors
commonly used. Psychologically speaking personality is all that a person is. It is the
totality of one’s behaviour towards oneself and others as well. It includes everything
about the person, his physical, emotional, social, mental and spiritual wake-up. It is all that
a person has about him.
3. NATURE, CONCEPT & FACTORS AFFECTING
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Hippocrates classified people according to the type of humour or fluid found in the body.
Kretschmer described specific biological types based on body structures. Sheldon also
identified three distinct types based on the relationship between a person’s body
physique and behaviour. Jung also adopted the type approach in classifying people in
terms of introversion and extroversion. Personality is the combination of characteristics
or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. Personality means the effect
and influence of an individual on other people.
G.W. Allport defines: “personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of
those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment.”
This definition is very comprehensive and includes all aspects of an individual’s
personality. Here, the word ‘dynamic’ means that personality is undergoing a constant
change but is still organized. It constitutes two types of systems: mental and physical, and
these two systems interact with the internal and external environments. The word
‘determine’ emphasizes that it is the psychophysical system, which activates the
organisms for action. The theories of personality in general can be classified in the
following broad categories.
Table 3.1: Theories of Personality
Theories of Personality
Type theory
Ernest Kretschemer, Dr. William. H. Sheldon, E. Spranger
and Carl. J. Jung
Trait Theories
G.W. Allport, R.B. Cattel, H.J. Eysenck, J.B. Guilford
Psycho-Analytic theories
Sigmund Freud, Jung, Otto Rank (1884-1949) Erich
Fromm (1900), Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan
(1892-1949), Erikson and Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
9
Dollard and Millar
7
Page
Learning Theory of Personality
97
Phenomenological/ Humanistic Abraham Maslow, Henry A Murray, Karl Rogers, George
theories
Kelly and Kurt Lewin
Social Behavioural Theory / Albert Bandura and Walters
Observational Learning Theory
Expectancy
model
-
reinforcement J.B. Rotter
4. TRAIT FACTOR APPROACH
The search for understanding the meaning and nature of personality would be incomplete
if we do not discuss some important theories of personality. These theories in one way or
another, try to describe the basic structure and underlying entities or constructs involves
in personality along with the processes by which these entities interact.
4.1: RAYMOND BERNARD CATTELL (1905-1998)
The most recent advanced theory of personality based on the trait approach has been
developed by R.B. Cattel (1973) a British born American researcher. He was defined a trait
as a structure of personality interred from behaviour in different situations and described
four types of traits mentioned below.




Common traits – general population, honesty, aggression, co-operative
Unique traits – temperamental traits, emotional reactions.
Surface traits – Manifestations of behaviour- curiosity, dependability, tactfulness.
Source traits – underlying structures or sources that determine behaviour such as
dominance, submission, emotionality etc.
The theory propagated by Catell attributes certain specific dimensions to personality so
that the human behaviour related to a particular situation, can be predicted. Catell has
adopted factor analysis as a technique for this work. Let us see how this is done.
 Made a complete list of all human behaviours.
 Assertion how they are related. He identified 35 specific groups and call them
Surface traits.
 Eliminated those which were overlapping. The removal of such over lapping gave
his the desired basic dimensions which he called Source traits.
Page
Cattell's scholarly training began at an early age when he was awarded admission to
King's College at Cambridge University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in
Chemistry in 1926. Cattell's socialist attitudes, paired with interests developed after
9
attending a Cyril Burt lecture in the same year,
turned his attention to the study of
8
psychology, still regarded as a philosophy. Following the completion of his doctorate
studies of psychology in 1929 Cattell lectured at the University at Exeter where, in 1930,
98
4.2: SIXTEEN PERSONALITY FACTOR MODEL (16PF)
he made his first contribution to the science of psychology with the Cattell Intelligence
Tests (scales 1,2, and 3). During fellowship studies in 1932, he turned his attention to the
measurement of personality focusing of the understanding of economic, social and moral
problems and how objective psychological research on moral decision could aid such
problems. Cattell's most renowned contribution to the science of psychology also pertains
to the study of personality. Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Model aims to construct a
common taxonomy of traits using a lexical approach to narrow natural language to
standard applicable personality adjectives. Though his theory has never been replicated,
his contributions to factor analysis have been exceedingly valuable to the study of
psychology.
4.2.1: Origin of the 16 Personality Factor Model
In developing a common taxonomy of traits for the 16 Personality Factor model, Cattell
relied heavily on the previous work of scientists in the field. Previous development of a list
of personality descriptors by Allport and Odbert in 1936, and Baumgarten's similar work
in German in 1933, focused on a lexical approach to the dimensions of personality. Since
psychology, like most other sciences, requires a descriptive model to be effective, the
construction of a common taxonomy is necessary to successful in explaining personality
simplistically. Already focused on the understanding of personality as it pertains to
psychology, Cattell set out to narrow the work already completed by his predecessors. The
goal of the research is to achieve integration as it relates to language and personality, that
is, to identify the personality relevant adjectives in the language relating to specific traits.
In the process of developing a taxonomy, a process that had taken predecessors sixty
years up to this point, Allport and Odbert systematized thousands of personality
attributes in 1936. They recognized four categories of adjectives in developing the
taxonomy including personality traits, temporary states highly evaluative judgments of
personally conduct and reputation, and physical characteristics. Personality traits are
defined as "generalized and personalized determining tendencies-consistent and stable
modes of an individual's adjustment to their environment" as stated by Allport and Odbert
in their research. Each adjective relative to personality falls within one of the previous
categories to aid in the identification of major personality categories and creates a
primitive taxonomy, which many psychologists and researchers would elaborate and
build upon later. Norman (1967) divided the same limited set of adjectives into seven
categories, which, like Allport and Odbert's categories, where all mutually exclusive.
Despite this, work from both parties have been classified as containing ambiguous
category boundaries, resulting in the general conviction that such boundaries should be
abolished and the work has less significance than the earlier judgment.
Page
Introduced and established by Pearson in 1901 and Spearman three years thereafter,
factor analysis is a process by which large clusters and grouping of data are replaced and
represented by factors in the equation. As variables are reduced to factors, relationships
between the factors begin to define the relationships in the variables they represent. In
the early stages of the process' development, there was little widespread use due largely
in part to the immense amount of hand calculations required to determine accurate
9
results, often spanning periods of several months.
Later on a mathematical foundation
9
would be developed aiding in the process and contributing to the later popularity of the
methodology. In present day, the power of super computers makes the use of factor
99
4.2.2: Factor Analysis
analysis a simplistic process compared to the 1900's when only the devoted researchers
could use it to accurately attain results.
The 16 Personality Factor Model aims to measure personality based upon sixteen source
traits. Table 4.1 summarizes the surface traits as descriptors in relation to source traits
within a high and low range.
The 16 basic or source trait dimensions were named as factors. These factors as the
building block of personality, i.e., the characteristics in terms of which one’s personality
can be described and measured.
Table 4.1: Primary Factors and Descriptors in Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Model (Adapted From Conn &
Rieke, 1994).
Reserve, impersonal, distant, cool,
reserved, impersonal, detached,
formal, aloof (Sizothymia)
Warmth
Concrete thinking, lower general
mental capacity, less intelligent,
unable to handle abstract
problems
(Lower
Scholastic
Mental Capacity)
Reactive emotionally, changeable,
affected by feelings, emotionally
less stable, easily upset (Lower
Ego Strength)
Deferential, cooperative, avoids
conflict, submissive, humble,
obedient, easily led, docile,
accommodating (Submissiveness)
Serious, restrained, prudent,
taciturn, introspective, silent
(Desurgency)
Expedient (action for a purpose,
but not be morally right),
nonconforming, disregards rules,
self indulgent (Low Super Ego
Strength)
Shy,
threat-sensitive,
timid,
hesitant, intimidated (Threctia)
Utilitarian,
objective,
unsentimental, tough minded,
self-reliant, no-nonsense, rough
(Harria)
Trusting, unsuspecting, accepting,
unconditional, easy (Alaxia)
Reasoning
Descriptors of High Range
(Surface Traits)
Warm, outgoing, attentive to
others, kindly, easy going,
participating,
likes
people
(Affectothymia). Females are
more having these traits.
Abstract-thinking,
more
intelligent, bright, higher general
mental capacity, fast learner
(Higher
Scholastic
Mental
Capacity)
Emotional
Stability
Emotionally stable, adaptive,
mature, faces reality calm (Higher
Ego Strength)
Dominance
Dominant, forceful, assertive,
aggressive,
competitive,
stubborn, bossy (Dominance)
Liveliness
Lively, animated, spontaneous,
enthusiastic, happy go lucky,
cheerful, expressive, impulsive
(Surgency)
RuleConsciousness
Rule-conscious,
dutiful,
conscientious,
conforming,
moralistic, staid, rule bound
(High Super Ego Strength)
Social Boldness
Socially bold, venturesome, thick
skinned, uninhibited (Parmia)
Sensitivity
Sensitive, aesthetic, sentimental,
tender minded, intuitive, refined
(Premsia)
1
0
Vigilance
0
Vigilant, suspicious, skeptical,
distrustful,
oppositional
100
Primary Factor
(Source Traits)
Page
Descriptors of Low Range
(Surface Traits)
Grounded, practical, prosaic,
solution
orientated,
steady,
conventional (Praxernia)
Forthright, genuine, artless, open,
guileless, naive, unpretentious,
involved (Artlessness)
Self-Assured,
unworried,
complacent, secure, free of guilt,
confident,
self
satisfied
(Untroubled)
Traditional, attached to familiar,
conservative,
respecting
traditional ideas (Conservatism)
Group-oriented,
affiliative,
a
joiner and follower dependent
(Group Adherence)
Tolerated disorder, unexacting,
flexible, undisciplined, lax, selfconflict, impulsive, careless of
social rues, uncontrolled (Low
Integration)
Relaxed, placid, tranquil, torpid,
patient, composed low drive (Low
Ergic Tension)
Abstractedness
Privateness
Apprehension
Openness to
Change
Self-Reliance
Perfectionism
Tension
(Protension)
Abstract, imaginative, absent
minded, impractical, absorbed in
ideas (Autia)
Private, discreet, nondisclosing,
shrewd, polished, worldly, astute,
diplomatic (Shrewdness)
Apprehensive, self doubting,
worried, guilt prone, insecure,
worrying, self blaming (Guilt
Proneness)
Open to change, experimental,
liberal, analytical, critical, free
thinking, flexibility (Radicalism)
Self-reliant, solitary, resourceful,
individualistic, self sufficient
(Self-Sufficiency)
Perfectionist,
organized,
compulsive,
self-disciplined,
socially precise, exacting will
power, control, self sentimental
(High Self-Concept Control)
Tense, high energy, impatient,
driven, frustrated, over wrought,
time driven. (High Ergic Tension)
4.2.3: Critical Review
Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Model has been greatly criticized by many researchers,
mainly because of the inability of replication. More than likely, during Cattell's factor
analysis errors in computation occurred resulting in skewed data, thus the inability to
replicate. Since, computer programs for factor analysis did not exist during Cattell's time
and calculations were done by hand it is not surprising that some errors occurred.
However, through investigation into to the validity of Cattell's model researchers did
discover the Big Five Factors, which have been monumental in understanding personality,
as we know it today.
Page
H.J. Eysenck is best known for his work in personality and intelligence. He is one of the
most frequently cited psychologists. Eysenck was born on March 4, 1916 and he was died
on September 4, 1997. Hans Eysenck was born in Germany to parents who were both
noted film and stage actors. After his parents' divorce when he was only two, he was
raised almost entirely by his grandmother. His opposition toward Hitler and the Nazi's led
him to move to England when he was 18. Because
of his German citizenship, he found it
1
difficult to find work in England. He eventually0went on to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology from
the University College London in 1940 under1the supervision of psychologist Cyril Burt,
perhaps best-known for his research on the heritability of intelligence.
101
4.2: HANS JURGEN EYSENCK (1916-1997)
4.2.1: Career
During the Second World War, Eysenck worked as a researcher psychologist at Mill Hill
Emergency Hospital. He later founded the psychology departed at the University of
London Institute of Psychiatry, where he continued to work until 1983. He served as
Professor Emeritus at the school until his death in 1997. He was also an extremely prolific
writer. Over the course of his career, he published more than 75 books and over 1600
journal articles. Prior to his death, he was the most frequently cited living psychologist.
4.2.2: Contributions to Psychology
This approach tries to synthesize the type and trait approaches. Hysenck went a step
further in the adopting factor analysis technique by extracting second order factors and
grouping traits into definite personality types. How individual behaviour is organized and
acquires the shape of a definite type is revealed by the figure 4.1.
2
Page
According to Eysenck, there are four levels of behaviour organization;
 At the lowest level are the specific responses. E.g.: Blushing, reserved,
withdrawn.
 Habitual responses for the second level and comprise similar responses of an
individual, to similar situations. E.g. inability to easily strike friendships.
 Organizations of habitual acts into traits. Behaviour acts which have similarities
are said to belong to one groups and are called traits. E.g. give birth to a group
of traits called ‘shyness’.
1
 Organization of these traits in to a general
type.
0
102
Figure 4.1: Organization of Individual Behaviour- H.J. Eysenck
A type is defined as a group of correlated traits. Traits which are similar in nature give
birth to a definite type just as the above figure, and traits like persistence, rigidity, shyness
etc, have been grouped in to a type termed as introversion.
The three basic dimensions (defined as clusters or groups of correlated traits)
derived by Eysenck through his work are,
 Introversion-Extroversion
 Neuroticism – (Phobic, disturbed, emotional instability-emotional stability)
 Psychoticism (mental illness), introvert, extrovert, neurotic, psychotic.
4.2.3: The contributions of Eysenck’s Theory




Describing, explaining, predicting one’s behaviour and personality.
He was presented a viable synthesis of the trait & type approaches, given
personality a biological cum heredity base, accepted the role of environmental
influences in shaping and developing personality.
Exploded many myths and over-generalizations of psycho analytical theory.
His theory has contributed to the study of criminology, education, aesthetics,
genetics, psychopathology and political ideology.
Theories adopting the type approach try to classify people into categories or types
according to certain characteristics. Theories based on the trait approach try to describe
people in terms of their unique pattern of traits. They define traits as relatively permanent
and relatively consistent general behaviour patterns which an individual exhibits in
different situations. Notable among these theories are the personality theories of Allport
and Cattell. Eysenck’s theory of personality is based on a trait cum type approach towards
personality and starting with the traits it yielded definite personality type.
5. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH
Page
Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6th May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian
neurologist, now known as the father of psychoanalysis. Freud qualified as a doctor of
medicine at the University of Vienna in 1881, and then carried out research into cerebral
palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy at the Vienna General Hospital. In 1895, he
was appointed a docent in neuropathology in the same year and became an affiliated
professor in 1902. In creating psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating
psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst, Freud
developed therapeutic techniques such as the use of free association and discovered
transference, establishing its central role in the analytic process. Freud’s redefinition of
sexuality to include its infantile forms led him
1 to formulate the Oedipus complex as the
central tenet of psychoanalytical theory. His
0 analysis of dreams as wish-fulfilments
provided him with models for the clinical 3analysis of symptom formation and the
mechanisms of repression as well as for elaboration of his theory of the unconscious as an
103
5.1: SIGMUND FREUD (1856- 1939)
agency disruptive of conscious states of mind. Freud postulated the existence of libido, an
energy with which mental processes and structures are invested and which generates
erotic attachments, and a death drive, the source of repetition, hate, aggression and
neurotic guilt. In his later work Freud developed a wide-ranging interpretation and
critique of religion and culture. Psychoanalysis remains influential within psychotherapy,
within some areas of psychiatry, and across the humanities. As such, it continues to
generate extensive and highly contested debate with regard to its therapeutic efficacy, its
scientific status, and whether it advances or is detrimental to the feminist cause.
Nonetheless, Freud's work has suffused contemporary Western thought and popular
culture. In the words of W. H. Auden's poetic tribute, by the time of Freud's death in 1939,
he had become "a whole climate of opinion / under whom we conduct our different lives"
5.1.2: Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Personality Theory
Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality argued that human behaviour was
the result of the interaction of three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and
superego. His structural theory placed great importance on the role of unconscious
psychological conflicts in shaping behaviour and personality. Dynamic interactions among
these basic parts of the mind were thought to carry human beings through five
psychosexual stages of development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Each stage
required mastery for a human to develop properly and move on to the next stage
successfully. Freud's ideas have since been met with criticism, mostly because of his
singular focus on sexuality as the main driver of human personality development.
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psycho analytic school, believed that child’s early
experiences influence the later personality of an individual. According to him,
behaviourist understood in terms of interaction and conflict arising out of needs and
desires of an individual. He gave importance to unconscious mind which is revealed
through fears and desires that regulate the human behaviour. he viewed that a painful
experiences are pushed to unconscious level and the behaviour is determined by
suppressed desires. According to Freud the structure of a mind based on the interaction of
a mind based on the interaction of three principles, id, ego and super ego. Super ego and id
and the resolution leads to normal personality while failure leads to abnormal personality.
5.1.3: Definition
Through the scope of a psychoanalytic lens, humans are described as having sexual and
aggressive drives. Psychoanalytic theorists believe that human behaviour is deterministic.
It is governed by irrational forces, and the unconscious, as well instinctual and biological
drives. Due to this deterministic nature, psychoanalytic theorists do not believe in free
will.
Page
Sigmund Freud determined that the personality consists of three different elements, the
id, the ego and the superego. The id is the aspect of personality that is driven by internal
and basic drives and needs. These are typically instinctual, such as hunger, thirst, and the
1
drive for sex, or libido. A person's libido is the0part of their personality, that is considered
to cause their emotional, especially sexual desire.
The id acts in accordance with the
4
104
5.1.4: Personality Structure
pleasure principle, in that it avoids pain and seeks pleasure. Due to the instinctual quality
of the id, it is impulsive and often unaware of implications of actions.
The ego is driven by reality principle. The ego works to balance both the id and superego.
In order to balance these, it works to achieve the id's drive in the most realistic ways. It
seeks to rationalize the id's instinct and please the drives that will benefit the individual in
the long term. It helps separate what is real, and realistic of our drives as well as being
realistic about the standards that the superego sets for the individual.
The superego is driven by morality principle. It acts in connection with the morality of
higher thought and action. Instead of instinctively acting like the id, the superego works to
act in socially acceptable ways. It employs morality, judging our sense of wrong and right
and using guilt to encourage socially acceptable behaviour.
5.1.5: The unconscious
The unconscious is the portion of the mind of which a person is not aware. Freud said that
it is the unconscious that exposes the true feelings, emotions, and thoughts of the
individual. There are variety of psychoanalytic techniques used to access and understand
the unconscious, ranging from methods like hypnosis, free association, dream analysis.
Dreams allow us to explore the unconscious; according to Freud, they are "the 'royal road'
to the unconscious". Dreams are composed of latent and manifest content. Whereas latent
content is the underlying meaning of a dream that may not be remembered when a person
wakes up, manifest content is the content from the dream that a person remembers upon
waking and can be analyzed by a psychoanalytic psychologist. Exploring and
understanding the manifest content of dreams can inform the individual of complexes or
disorders that may be under the surface of their personality. Dreams can provide access to
the unconscious that is not easily accessible.
5.1.6: Defence Mechanisms:
The ego balances the id, the superego and reality in order to maintain a healthy state of
consciousness. It thus reacts to protect the individual from any stressors and anxiety by
distorting reality. This prevents threatening unconscious thoughts and material from
entering the consciousness. The different types of defence mechanisms are: Repression,
reaction formation, denial, projection, displacement, sublimation, regression, and
rationalization.



Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality implicated the structure of the mind,
namely the id, ego, and superego, and how conflicts among these constituent parts
are resolved in shaping human personality.
The id operates on the pleasure principle. It is regulated by both the ego, which
operates on the reality principle, and the superego, which operates on the morality
principle.
Conflicts among these structures of the1 mind appear at each of Freud's five basic
stages of psychosexual development: oral,
0 anal, phallic, latency, and genital.
Successful navigation of these natural,5 internal conflicts will lead to mastery of
each developmental stage, and ultimately, to fully-mature, adult personality.
Page

105
5.1.7: Key Points of Freud's psychoanalytic theory
5.1.8: Key Terms of Freud's psychoanalytic theory


Psychosexual: Of or relating to the psychological aspect or aspects of sexuality.
Neuroses: Plural form of neurosis. A neurosis is mental disorder, less severe than
psychosis, marked by anxiety or fear.
5.1.9: Freud's Structure of the Human Mind
According to Freud, the human personality was structured into three separate parts: the
id, ego, and superego. The id was the most primitive structure, functioned unconsciously,
operated on the pleasure principle, and sought instant gratification. The ego was less
primitive, functioned in partial consciousness, operated with reason on the reality
principle, and regulated the id by satisfying urges only when appropriate. The superego
was the most modern structure, functioned consciously, operated on the moral principle,
and regulated the id based on social learning and issues of morality. Freud believed that
these three basic structures were in constant conflict. The results of these internal
struggles throughout childhood were thought to influence the development of adult
personality and behaviour.

Oral Stage (birth to 1.5 years of age): The oral stage's major pleasure centre
is the oral cavity. Cavity means space or hole in a person's body. A baby's
first experience with much of the physical world is through the mouth. The
goal of this stage was to develop the proper amount of sucking, eating,
biting, and talking, which aid in early development steps such as breast
feeding and speaking. Children who did not master this stage would develop
an oral fixation that might lead to drinking, smoking, and nail-biting or
other mouth-based aggressive behaviours.

Anal Stage (1.5-3 years of age): The anal stage's major pleasure center is
the anal cavity. One of the first impulses that a baby must learn to control is
his/her excretion system. The goal of this stage is mastery of this system,
which usually culminates in proper toilet training. Children who do not
adequately master this stage or were harshly punished during the toilet
training process developed an anal fixation. This might lead to anal
retentive or anal expulsive personalities in which one is overly tidy/neat,
and the other overly messy/dirty.

Phallic Stage (3-5 years of age): The phallic stage's major pleasure center is
the main genital organ in either boys or girls. The child is thought to develop
his/her first sexual desires which are directed at the closest known adult,
i.e. the opposite sex parent. Boys develop the Oedipal complex with affection
for their mothers while girls developed the Elektra complex with affection
for their fathers. The goal of this1 stage is to master this internal conflict and
move toward more appropriate0sexual desires. Children who struggle here
develop phallic fixations which 6affect their relationships with their parents
adversely.
106
Psycho-sexual Stages of Development
Page
5.1.10:
5.1.11:

Latency Stage (5-12 years of age): Latency phase originates during the
phallic stage when the child's Oedipus / Elektra complex begin to dissolve.
The latency stage's major pleasure centres are dormant (not active) sexual
feelings for the opposite sex. Dormant means, being used out the present
time but is capable of becoming active later on. Here, the child consolidates
character habits developed in the previous three stages. Successful mastery
in each of these stages is necessary for a mature, adult personality to
develop before puberty. If the child does not learn to derive pleasure from
external sources such as schooling or friendships, he/she may develop
neuroses or fixations on socially unacceptable activities.

Genital Stage (12 years - adulthood): The genital stage's main pleasure
centre is the surge of sexual hormones in the body during puberty.
Adolescents must establish successful relationships with peers in order to
master this stage. Young adults who do not transition from solitary, infantile
sexuality to consensual, mature sexuality develop fixations on sex and tend
to have unsuccessful relationships.
Critics of psychoanalytic theory
The Psychoanalytic approach has a variety of advantages and limitations that have
spurred further research and expansion into the realm of personality development.


Advantages
The
theory
emphasizes
the
importance
of
childhood
experiences.
It initiated and addressed the
importance of the unconscious,
sexual and aggressive drives that
make-up the majority of all human
beings' personalities.
The approach also explains defense
mechanisms and why every
individual reacts differently to
similar situations.




Limitations
Sigmund Freud failed to include
evidence of the impact of the
environment on the individual
throughout his theory.
The theory is lacking in empirical
data and too focused on pathology.
This theory lacks consideration of
culture and its influence on
personality.
These limitations have led to the
resolution that much of modern
research does not support many of
its notions.
5.2: ERIK HOMBURGER ERIKSON (15 JUNE 1902 – 12 MAY 1994)
1
0
There are few psychologists are considered 7as Neo-Freudians; viz., Carl Gustav Jung,
Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Karen Horney and Eric Fromm. Erik Erikson was a German-
107

An analysis of Freud's psychoanalytic theory
Page
Table 5.1.1:
born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on
psychosocial development of human beings. He may be most famous for coining the
phrase identity crisis. His son, Kai T. Erikson, is a noted American sociologist. Although
Erikson lacked even a bachelor's degree, he served as a professor at prominent
institutions such as Harvard and Yale. Erik Erikson does not talk about psychosexual
Stages, he discusses psychosocial stages. His ideas though were greatly influenced by
Freud, going along with Freud’s (1923) theory regarding the structure and topography of
personality.
Erikson proposed a lifespan model of development, taking in five stages up to the age of
18 years and three further stages beyond, well into adulthood. Erikson suggests that there
is still plenty of room for continued growth and development throughout one’s life.
Erikson put a great deal of emphasis on the adolescent period, feeling it was a crucial
stage for developing a person’s identity. Like Freud and many others, Erik Erikson
maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order, and builds upon each
previous stage. This is called the epigenic principle. The outcome of this 'maturation
timetable' is a wide and integrated set of life skills and abilities that function together
within the autonomous individual. However, instead of focusing on sexual development
(like Freud), he was interested in how children socialize and how this affects their sense
of self.
5.2.1: Psychosocial Stages
Trust vs. Mistrust: Is the world a safe place or is it full of unpredictable events
and accidents waiting to happen? Erikson's first psychosocial crisis occurs
during the first year or so of life (like Freud's oral stage of psychosexual
development). The crisis is one of trust vs. mistrust. During this stage the infant
is uncertain about the world in which they live. To resolve these feelings of
uncertainty the infant looks towards their primary caregiver for stability and
consistency of care. If the care the infant receives is consistent, predictable and
reliable they will develop a sense of trust which will carry with them to other
relationships, and they will be able to feel secure even when threatened.
Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope. By developing a sense of
trust, the infant can have hope that as new crises arise, there is a real
possibility that other people will be there are a source of support. Failing to
acquire the virtue of hope will lead to the development of fear. For example, if
the care has been harsh or inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable then the
infant will develop a sense of mistrust and will not have confidence in the
world around them or in their abilities to influence events.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt: The child is developing physically and
becoming more mobile. Between the ages of 18 months and three, children
begin to assert their independence, by walking away from their mother,
picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what they like to
1
wear, to eat, etc. The child is discovering
that he or she has many skills and
0
abilities, such as putting on clothes8and shoes, playing with toys etc. Such skills
illustrate the child's growing sense of independence and autonomy. Erikson
Page

108
Erikson’s (1959) theory of psychosocial development has eight distinct stages as shown
below.
Initiative vs. Guilt: Around age three and continuing to age five, children
assert themselves more frequently. These are particularly lively, rapiddeveloping years in a child’s life. According to Bee (1992) it is a “time of vigour
of action and of behaviours that the parents may see as aggressive". During this
period the primary feature involves the child regularly interacting with other
children at school. Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with the
opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills through initiating activities.
Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with
others. If given this opportunity, children develop a sense of initiative, and feel
secure in their ability to lead others and make decisions.

Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority: Children are at the stage (aged 5 to 12
yrs) where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to make things
on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life as they
teach the child specific skills. It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will
gain greater significance and will become a major source of the child’s self
esteem. The child now feels the need to win approval by demonstrating
specific competencies that are valued by society, and begin to develop a sense
of pride in their accomplishments. If children are encouraged and reinforced
for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious and feel confident in their
ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by
parents or teacher, then the child begins to feel inferior, doubting his own
abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential.

Identity vs. Role Confusion: During adolescence (age 12 to 18 years), the
transition from childhood to adulthood is most important. Children are
becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future in terms of career,
relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a society
and fit in. This is a major stage in development where the child has to learn the
roles he will occupy as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will
re-examine his identity and try to find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson
suggests that two identities are involved: the sexual and the occupational.
According to Bee (1992), what should happen at the end of this stage is “a
reintegrated sense of self, of what one wants to do or be, and of one’s
appropriate sex role”. During this stage the body image of the adolescent
changes.

Intimacy vs. Isolation: Occurring in young adulthood (ages 18 to 40 yrs), we
begin to share ourselves more intimately with others. We explore relationships
leading toward longer term commitments with someone other than a family
1
member. Successful completion 0of this stage can lead to comfortable
relationships and a sense of commitment,
safety, and care within a
9
relationship. Avoiding intimacy, fearing commitment and relationships can
Page

109
states it is critical that parents allow their children to explore the limits of their
abilities within an encouraging environment which is tolerant of failure. For
example, rather than put on a child's clothes a supportive parent should have
the patience to allow the child to try until they succeed or ask for assistance.
So, the parents need to encourage the child to becoming more independent
whilst at the same time protecting the child so that constant failure is avoided.
lead to isolation, loneliness, and sometimes depression. Success in this stage
will lead to the virtue of love.

Generativity vs. Stagnation: During middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65 years),
we establish our careers, settle down within a relationship, begin our own
families and develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture. We give back
to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and
becoming involved in community activities and organizations. By failing to
achieve these objectives, we become stagnant and feel unproductive. Success in
this stage will lead to the virtue of care.

Ego Integrity vs. Despair: As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior
citizens, we tend to slow down our productivity, and explore life as a retired
person. It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and
are able to develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life. Erik
Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past,
or feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with
life and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look
back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept
death without fear.
6. METHODS OF PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
Personality assessment, the measurement of personal characteristics. Assessment is an
end result of gathering information intended to advance psychological theory and
research and to increase the probability that wise decisions will be made in applied
settings (e.g., in selecting the most promising people from a group of job applicants). The
approach taken by the specialist in personality assessment is based on the assumption
that much of the observable variability in behaviour from one person to another results
from differences in the extent to which individuals possess particular underlying personal
characteristics (traits). The assessment specialist seeks to define these traits, to measure
them objectively, and to relate them to socially significant aspects of behaviour.
Efforts to measure personality constructs stem from a variety of sources. Frequently they
grow out of theories of personality; anxiety and repression (the forgetting of unpleasant
experiences), for example, are among the central concepts of the theory of psychoanalysis.
It is understandable that efforts would be made to quantify one’s degree of anxiety, for
example, and to use the score thus obtained in the assessment of and in the prediction of
future behaviour. Among the major issues in the
1 study of personality measurement is the
1
question of which of the many personality constructs
that have been quantified are basic
or fundamental and which can be expected to 0involve wasted effort in their measurement
110
Measuring Constructs
Page
6.1:
because they represent poorly defined combinations of more elemental constructs; which
measurement techniques are most effective and convenient for the purpose of
assessment; and whether it is better to interview people in measuring personality, or to
ask them to say, for example, what an inkblot or a cloud in the sky reminds them of.
6.2:
Assessment Methods
Personality tests provide measures of such characteristics as feelings and emotional
states, preoccupations, motivations, attitudes, and approaches to interpersonal relations.
There is a diversity of approaches to personality assessment, and controversy surrounds
many aspects of the widely used methods and techniques. These include such assessments
as the interview, rating scales, self-reports, personality inventories, projective techniques,
and behavioural observation.
Table 6.2.1. Methods of Assessing Personality
Subjective Methods
 Auto-Biography
 Observation
 Case history
 Interview
 Inventory
 Semiethnographic
studies
Methods of Assessing Personality
Objective Methods
 Questionnaire
 Rating Scale
 Sociometry
 Minnesota
Multi-phasic
Personality
Inventory
(MMPI)
 16 Personality Factors
(16PF)
Projective Methods
 Rorschach Ink Blot
test (RIB)
 Thematic
Apperception Test
(TAT)
 Children's
Apperception Test
(CAT)
 Word Association
Test
 Picture Drawing
 Story-telling
 Sentence
Completion Test
Page
Hermann Rorschach, who created the Rorschach inkblot test in 1921. Hermann
Rorschach (8 November 1884 - 1 April 1922) was a Swiss Freudian psychiatrist and
psychoanalyst, best known for developing a projective test known as the Rorschach
Inkblot Test. This test was reportedly designed to reflect unconscious parts of the
personality that "project" onto the stimuli. In the test, individuals are shown 10 inkblots one at a time - and asked to report what objects or figures they see in each of them. The
tester and subject typically sit next to each other at a table, with the tester slightly behind
the subject. This is to facilitate a "relaxed but
1 controlled atmosphere". There are ten
official inkblots, each printed on a separate white
card, approximately 18x24 cm in size.
1
1
Each of the blots has near perfect bilateral symmetry.
Five inkblots are of black ink, two
111
6.3: RORSCHACH INK BLOT TEST (RIB)
are of black and red ink and three are multicoloured, on a white background. See the one
of inkblot at figure 6.3.1.
Figure 6.3.1: Rorschach's inkblot test
After the test subject has seen and responded to all of the inkblots (free association
phase), the tester then presents them again one at a time in a set sequence for the subject
to study: the subject is asked to note where he sees what he originally saw and what
makes it look like that (inquiry phase). The subject is usually asked to hold the cards and
may rotate them. Whether the cards are rotated, and other related factors such as
whether permission to rotate them is asked, may expose personality traits and normally
contributes to the assessment. As the subject is examining the inkblots, the psychologist
writes down everything the subject says or does, no matter how trivial. Analysis of
responses is recorded by the test administrator using a tabulation and scoring sheet and,
if required, a separate location chart.
6.4: THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)
Page
1
1
2
112
The Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT, is a projective measure intended to evaluate a
person's patterns of thought, attitudes, observational capacity, and emotional responses
to ambiguous test materials. In the case of the TAT, the ambiguous materials consist of a
set of cards that portray human figures in a variety of settings and situations. The subject
is asked to tell the examiner a story about each card that includes the following elements:
the event shown in the picture; what has led up to it; what the characters in the picture
are feeling and thinking; and the outcome of the event. Because the TAT is an example of a
projective instrument - that is, it asks the subject to project his or her habitual patterns of
thought and emotional responses onto the pictures on the cards - many psychologists
prefer not to call it a "test," because it implies that there are "right" and "wrong" answers
to the questions. They consider the term "technique" to be a more accurate description of
the TAT and other projective assessments. The TAT can be given repeatedly to an
individual as a way of measuring progress in psychotherapy or, in some cases, to help the
therapist understand why the treatment seems to be stalled or blocked.
Figure 6.4.1: TAT indicates cultural, gender, and class issues
In the TAT, the test subject examines a set of cards that portray human figures in a variety
of settings and situations, and is asked to tell a story about each card. The story includes
the event shown in the picture, preceding events, emotions and thoughts of those
portrayed, and the outcome of the event shown. The story content and structure are
thought to reveal the subject's attitudes, inner conflicts, and views.
Race is another issue related to the TAT story cards. The original story cards, which were
created in 1935, all involved Caucasian figures. As early as 1949, researchers who were
administering the TAT to African Americans asked whether the race of the figures in the
cards would influence the subjects' responses. New sets of TAT story cards have
introduced figures representing a wider variety of races and ethnic groups. As of 2002,
however, it is not clear whether a subject's ability to identify with the race of the figures in
the story cards improves the results of a TAT assessment.
6.5:
1
1
3
SENTENCE COMPLETION AND WORD
ASSOCIATION TESTS
Page
The TAT is usually administered to individuals in a quiet room free from interruptions or
distractions. The subject sits at the edge of a table or desk next to the examiner. The
examiner shows the subject a series of story cards taken from the full set of 31 TAT cards.
The usual number of cards shown to the subject is between 10 and 14, although Murray
recommended the use of 20 cards, administered in two separate one-hour sessions with
the subject. The original 31 cards were divided into three categories, for use with men
only, with women only, or for use with subjects of either sex. Recent practice has moved
away from the use of separate sets of cards for men and women. The subject is then
instructed to tell a story about the picture on each card, with specific instructions to
include a description of the event in the picture, the developments that led up to the event,
the thoughts and feelings of the people in the picture, and the outcome of the story. The
examiner keeps the cards in a pile face down in front of him or her, gives them to the
subject one at a time, and asks the subject to place each card face down as its story is
completed. Administration of the TAT usually takes about an hour.
113
6.4.1: Administration of the TAT
Herman Ebbinghaus is generally credited with developing the first sentence completion
test in 1897. Ebbinghaus’s sentence completion test was used as part of an intelligence
test. Carl Jung’s word association test may also have been a precursor to modern
sentence completion tests. In recent decades, sentence completion tests have increased in
usage, in part because they are easy to develop and easy to administer. As of the 1980s,
sentence completion tests were the eighty-fifth most widely used personality assessment
instruments. Another reason for the increased usage of sentence completion tests is
because of their superiority to other measures in uncovering conflicted attitudes. Some
sentence completion tests were developed as a way to overcome the problems associated
with thematic apperception measures of the same constructs.
6.5.1: The sentence completion method
The sentence completion method of studying personality is a semi structured projective
technique in which the subject is asked to finish a sentence for which the first word or
words are supplied. As in other projective devices, it is assumed that the subject reflects
his own wishes, desires, fears and attitudes in the sentences he makes. Historically, the
incomplete sentence method is related most closely to the word association test. In some
test incomplete sentences tests only a single word or brief response is called for; the
major differences appears to be in the length of the stimulus. In the sentence completion
tests, tendencies to block and to twist the meaning of the stimulus words appear and the
responses may be categorized in a somewhat similar fashion to the word association
method.
6.5.2: Uses Sentence Completion Tests
The uses of sentence completion tests include personality analysis, clinical applications,
attitude assessment, achievement motivation, and measurement of other constructs. They
are used in several disciplines, including psychology, management, education, and
marketing. Sentence completion measures have also been incorporated into nonprojective applications, such as intelligence tests, language comprehension, and language
and cognitive development tests.
Page
Word association was first developed as a research instrument by Francis Galton and
was subsequently developed by Carl Jung as a clinical diagnostic tool. Galton introduced
the first word-association test to psychology. He used a list of 75 stimulus words with
which he read and noted his responses. Galton, who thought that there might be a link
between a person's I.Q. (intelligence quotient) and word associations. Word association is
connected with the work that Carl Gustav Jung was engaged in at the Burgholzli
Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Zurich in the early stages of his career (Jung,
1917/1926/1943). Under the directorship of Eugen Bleuler, the Burgholzli Psychiatric
Clinic was an international centre of excellence in psychiatric research at the turn of the
century. Jung became director of research on the Word Association Test. This test usually
1
consisted of a hundred stimulus words that were
read out singly to a subject who was to
1
"answer as quickly as possible with the first 4word that occurs to you.” Administering a
word-association test is relatively uncomplicated. A subject is asked to respond with the
114
6.5.3: Word-Association Test
first word or idea that comes to mind. The table has three columns: the test word, reaction
time and patients– response.
6.6: CASE STUDY
Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.
Typically data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different
methods (e.g. observations & interviews). The case study research method originated in
clinical medicine (the case history, i.e. the patient’s personal history). Case study is an in
depth study of any social unit – a person, family, institution or community. It is a
longitudinal or life long study.
6.6.1: Making and using a case study involves the following steps





Collection of information regarding the case
Conduct interview
Observation of tests, if necessary
Documentation
Diagnosis and plan for treatment / remediation
6.6.2: Suggestions for studying a case





Identify a pupil from your own class. (either deviant child or an
outstanding child)
Try to plan the case in a small way
A rapport is established in interview
Use plain and simple language in report writing
Not to attempt treatment which is beyond his / her experience
6.6.3: Steps in case study







Determination of the problem
Determination of the most probable antecedents of the case
Formulation of the hypothesis
Collection of data from all possible sources
Verification of the hypothesis
Remedial steps for removing the cause of mal adjustment
Follow-up of the case
Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information
Provides insight for further research
Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.
1
Case studies give psychological researchers 1the possibility to investigate cases, which
could not possibly be engineered in research 5laboratories. Case studies are often used in
exploratory research. They can help us generate new ideas (that might be tested by other
Page



115
6.6.4: Strengths of Case Studies
methods). They are an important way of illustrating theories and can help show how
different aspects of a person's life are related to each other. The method is therefore
important for psychologists who adopt a holistic point of view (i.e. humanistic
psychologists).
6.6.5: Limitations of Case Studies




Cannot generalize the results to the wider population
Researchers own subjective feeling may influence the case study (researcher
bias)
Difficult to replicate
Time consuming
6.7: SEMI-ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES
Ethnography is the branch of Anthropology in which different cultures are studied and
described. Basic
Classical
Ethnographic
Research
Methods includes; Secondary Data
Analysis, Fieldwork, Observation/Participant Observation, and Informal and Semi
structured Interviewing.
Secondary data is simply a reference to existing data, as compared to new data that are
being collected, or have been recently collected. Ethnography, similar to any other type of
research usually begins with the researcher availing him or herself of the range of
information that already exists on the topic or people being studied. In more positivist or
quantitative approaches, it is such knowledge that helps to develop hypothesis to be
tested in the new research process. In the more open-ended and discovery oriented
approaches to ethnography and qualitative methods, secondary data analysis are
important in exploring research assumptions (which some researchers refer to as early
hypothesis), or to generate research questions to be further explored. For all research
approaches, secondary data analyses help in identifying gaps in what is known about
particular research topics, and suggesting the specific methods that might be used to
secure the most valid data related to the questions or topics of interest. The following are
some secondary data sources on the population or setting being studied:
 Scholarly and popular (including media) publications and products.
 Archival and statistical data found in various administrative sources at the
national, state and local levels (e.g., national censuses, government agencies, state
and local planning offices, police stations, city and town hall ledgers, budgets, sales
records).
 Other archival documents, such as maps, atlases, abstracts of titles, and title deeds;
 Records and data collected by business, educational, health, social services, labour
and professional associations, church records, and other entities that collect data
for their particular missions;
 Data collected in various types of directories, including telephone, local business
directories, special ethnic publications;
 Personal and Individual data, such as1 diaries, family histories, biographies and
1
autobiographies, tombstones, etc.
6
116
SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS
Page
6.7.1:
It is highly recommended that ethnographers should explore all that they can about their
topic or study population before moving on to the collection of primary data. With regards
to existing statistical data, and other secondary sources, many agencies, organizations,
and associations may have relevant data available online. Thus it is also highly
recommended that ethnographers first explore online sources, prior to engaging in more
traditional and labour intensive methods of contacting agencies and organizations for
their hard copy data documents.
6.7.2:
OBSERVATION / PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
In participant observation the observer participates in ongoing activities and records
observations. Participant observation extends beyond naturalistic observation because
the observer is a "player" in the action. The technique is used in many studies in Social
and behavioural sciences. Often the researcher actually takes on the role being studied;
for example, living in a commune, becoming a fire fighter, enrolling in flight training
school, working in a mental hospital (or passing as a patient), being a cocktail waitress,
living among the mushroom hunters of the northwest, or joining a cult. Participant
observation and ethnography are probably the most stressful research methods for the
researcher. People with whom one is interacting may make unreasonable demands. As a
participant, one may observe illegal behaviour. Ethical dilemmas are commonplace in
participant observation. Does one "rat" on fellow employees? Or keep quiet and perhaps
risk public safety? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of a Participant
observation. Table 6.7.2.1. showing the advantages and disadvantages of participant
observation.
Table 6.7.2.1. Advantages and disadvantages of participant observation







6.7.2.1:
Disadvantages
Difficult to record data.
Difficult to be objective.
Difficult to replicate.
Observers may influence
participants.
Ethical problems.
Cannot infer cause and effect.
Guidelines to systematic observation
Participant observation is different from systematic observation. The observer
participates in the activities and events being observed. Because of the level of
involvement of the observer, it is particularly subject to problems of bias and reactivity.
The data generally consist of an individual's notes, and thus may not be as reliable as
1
information gathered by two or more independent
observers. Participant observation
1
provides descriptive qualitative data (in contrast
with the numeric information often
7
gained by systematic observation). Ethnography, the study of particular people and
117

Advantages
High ecological validity if observation is
covert.
Detailed and in-depth knowledge of the
situation can be gained.
Qualitative data.
Page

places, often uses participant observation as a research method. Quantitative (numerical)
and qualitative (narrative) approaches are different, but are not mutually-exclusive. Both
methods can provide useful information about behaviour.
6.7.3: INFORMAL AND SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
An ethnographic interview is like an in-depth conversation that takes place within the
context of reciprocal relationships, established over time, based on familiarity and trust.
The main features of an ethnographic interview is enlisted below.
 Creating space for in-depth conversations.
 Structured, unstructured, and semi-structured interview styles and their role in
ethnography.
 In-depth conversations as an interconnection of views.
 Flexibility in style and approach.
 Distinguishing an ethnographic interview from other approaches.
 Some practical issues and some examples.
 All sorts of social research uses interviewing.
 In fact it is now the most popular method in social sciences.
 Ethnographic research employs interviewing tools but always in the context of
the ethnographic perspective
 Under the concept of asking questions, it is already demonstrated the way
ethnography consists of talking and listening and asking questions as much as it
does participating and observing.

6.7.3.2:



The interviewer and respondents engage in a formal interview.
The interviewer develops and uses an 'interview guide.' This is a list of
questions and topics that need to be covered during the conversation, usually in
a particular order.
The interviewer follows the guide, but is able to follow topical trajectories in
the conversation that may stray from the guide when he or she feels this is
appropriate.
When to use semi-structured interviews
Semi-structured interviewing, according to Bernard (1988), is best used when
you won't get more than one chance to interview someone and when you will
be sending several interviewers out into the field to collect data.
The semi-structured interview guide provides a clear set of instructions for
interviewers and can provide reliable, comparable qualitative data.
Semi-structured interviews are often preceded by observation, informal and
1
unstructured interviewing in order1to allow the researchers to develop a keen
understanding of the topic of interest
necessary for developing relevant and
8
meaningful semi-structured questions.
118


Characteristics of Semi-structured interviews
Page
6.7.3.1:

6.7.3.3:
The inclusion of open-ended questions and training of interviewers to follow
relevant topics that may stray from the interview guide does, however, still
provide the opportunity for identifying new ways of seeing and understanding
the topic at hand.
Recording Semi-Structured interviews
Typically, the interviewer has a paper-based interview guide that he or she follows. Since
semi-structured interviews often contain open-end questions and discussions may
diverge from the interview guide, it is generally best to tape-record interviews and later
transcript these tapes for analysis. While it is possible to try to jot notes to capture
respondents' answers, it is difficult to focus on conducting an interview and jotting notes.
This approach will result in poor notes and also detract for the development of rapport
between interviewer and interviewee. Development of rapport and dialogue is essential
in unstructured interviews. If tape-recording an interview is out of the question, consider
having a note-taker present during the interview.
6.7.3.3:



Benefits of Semi-Structured interviews
Many researchers like to use semi-structured interviews because questions can be
prepared ahead of time. This allows the interviewer to be prepared and appear
competent during the interview.
Semi-structured interviews also allow informants the freedom to express their
views in their own terms.
Semi-structure interviews can provide reliable, comparable qualitative data.
6.8: MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI)
MMPI developed by a group of psychologists and psychiatrists of University of
Minnesota in late 1930s and firstly published in 1942. The MMPI is considered a
protected psychological instrument, meaning it can only be given and interpreted by a
psychologist trained to do so. While it is commonly administered by computer nowadays
(and requires no direct professional involvement during its administration), psychological
testing is nearly always preceded by a clinical interview by the psychologist who is doing
the testing. After the computer scores the test results, the psychologist writes up a report
interpreting the test results in the context of the person’s history and current
psychological concerns.
Page
The older MMPI-2 is made up 10 clinical subscales, which are a result of answering certain
questions on the test in a specific manner:
1
1
 Hypochondriasis (Hs) – The Hypochondriasis
scale tapes a wide variety of vague
9
and nonspecific complaints about bodily functioning. These complaints tend to
119
6.8.1: The 10 Clinical Subscales







1
2
0
120

Page

focus on the abdomen and back, and they persist in the face of negative medical
tests. There are two primary factors that this subscale measures - poor physical
health and gastrointestinal difficulties. The scale contains 32 items.
Depression (D) – The Depression scale measures clinical depression, which is
characterized by poor morale, lack of hope in the future, and a general
dissatisfaction with one’s life. The scale contains 57 items.
Hysteria (Hy) – The Hysteria scale primarily measures five components - poor
physical health, shyness, cynicism, headaches and neuroticism. The subscale
contains 60 items.
Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) - The Psychopathic Deviate scale measures general
social maladjustment and the absence of strongly pleasant experiences. The items
on this scale tap into complaints about family and authority figures in general, self
alienation, social alienation and boredom. The scale contains 50 items.
Masculinity/Femininity (Mf) – The Masculinity/Femininity scale measures
interests in vocations and hobbies, aesthetic preferences, activity-passivity and
personal sensitivity. It measures in a general sense how rigidly a person conforms
to very stereotypical masculine or feminine roles. The scale contains 56 items.
Paranoia (Pa) – The Paranoia scale primarily measures interpersonal sensitivity,
moral self-righteousness and suspiciousness. Some of the items used to score this
scale are clearly psychotic in that they acknowledge the existence of paranoid and
delusional thoughts. This scale has 40 items.
Psychasthenia (Pt) - The Psychasthenia scale is intended to measure a person’s
inability to resist specific actions or thoughts, regardless of their maladaptive
nature. “Psychasthenia” is an old term used to describe what we now call
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), or having obsessive-compulsive thoughts
and behaviours. This scale also taps into abnormal fears, self-criticisms, difficulties
in concentration and guilt feelings. This scale contains 48 items.
Schizophrenia (Sc) – The Schizophrenia scale measures bizarre (strange, odd)
thoughts, peculiar perceptions, social alienation, poor familial relationships,
difficulties in concentration and impulse control, lack of deep interests, disturbing
question of self-worth and self-identity, and sexual difficulties. This scale has 78
items, more than any other scale on the test.
Hypomania (Ma) – The Hypomania scale is intended to measure milder degrees of
excitement, characterized by an elated but unstable mood, psychomotor
excitement (e.g., shaky hands) and flight of ideas (e.g., an unstoppable string of
ideas). The scale taps into over activity - both behaviourally and cognitively grandiosity, irritability and egocentricity. This scale contains 46 items.
Social Introversion (Si) – The Social Introversion scale measures the social
introversion and extroversion of a person. A person who is a social introvert is
uncomfortable in social interactions and typically withdraws from such
interactions whenever possible. They may have limited social skills, or simply
prefer to be alone or with a small group of friends. This scale has 69 items.
7. CONCLUSION
The term personality has been derived from the Latin word ‘Persona’. Persona means
mask. According to the concept of mask, personality was thought to be the effect and
influence of an individual wearing a mask. Psychologically, personality is the integrated
and dynamic organization of the physical, mental, moral, and social qualities of the
individual that manifests itself to others in social life. An impressive personality is often
taken to be synonymous with good appearance, healthy physique, pleasing manners, a
good character, a pleasant temperament etc. Although personality includes all these
aspects of one’s self, it is far beyond each or even the sum of all these attributes. It may be
defined as a complex blend of a constantly evolving and changing pattern of a person's
unique behaviour, emerged as a result of his interaction with his environment, directed
towards some specific ends in view.
8. MODEL QUESTIONS
Page
1
2
1
121
1. Briefly describe the dynamics of personality development as viewed by Freud.
2. Culture and environment have positive effects on the development
of personality. Explain.
3. Define personality according to Allport and analyze the various aspects implied
in this definition. State briefly the techniques of assessing personality. Explain
any one of them in detail.
4. Describe the humanistic approach to personality development, with special
reference to the views of Carl Rogers.
5. Discuss influence of culture of personality development?
6. Discuss the various factors which influence the development of personality.
7. Examine the classroom implications of Freud’s ideas about the ‘dynamics’ of
personality development.
8. Explain the meaning and nature of personality with example.
9. Explain the psychoanalytic concept of psychic structure.
10. Mention the limitations of observation method.
11. Personality is the result of both heredity and environment. Explain.
12. What are the difficulties of measuring personality?
13. What are the factors determining personality of an individual?
14. What factors do affect the personality?
9. REFERENCES
Aggarwal, G.C. (1996). Essential of Educational Psychology. Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.
Bhatia, H.R. (1989). Elements of Educational Psychology, Orient Longman, New Delhi.
Chauhan, S.S. (1993). Advanced Educational Psychology. Vikas Publishing House.
Jayaswal, S.R. Advanced Educational Psychology, Agra: Vinod Pustak Mandir.
Mangal , S.K. (1993) Advanced Educational Psychology, New Delhi, Prentice Hall of India.
Mukherjee, A. (1978). Educational Psychology, Calcutta: K.P. Basu Publishing Co.
Sarma , M. (2008) Educational Psychology. Dibrugarh: Tushar Publishing House.
Thamarasseri, Ismail. (2016). Psychology of Learning. New Delhi: Dominant Publishers &
Distributors (P) Ltd.
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Fehriinger, H.M. Contributions and Limitations of Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Model., retrieved from
http://www.personalityresearch.org/ papers/fehringer.html
Framingham, J. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Psych Central. Retrieved on March
18, 2015, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/minnesota-multiphasic-personality-inventory-mmpi/0005959
http://www.kkhsou.in/main/education/personality.html
Introduction to personality and its factors.,
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Kendra Cherry., Hans Eysenck (1916 -1997), Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/
od/profilesal/p/hans-eysenck.htm
Maramag., B. The word association test., retrieved from http://www. slideshare.net/ blessmaramag/ the-wordassociation-test
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Case Study Method. Retrieved from http:// www. simplypsychology.org/ case-study.html
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Erik Erikson. retrieved from http://www. simplypsychology.org/ Erik-Erikson.html
Participant
observation.,
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from
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/sommerb/sommerdemo/observation/partic.htm
Research
methods.,
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from
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sharedContent/repository/psychology/Level_3/act_PK1_Research%20methods/s03research_methods/050a_
participant.htm
Rorschach test., Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test
Sarason,
I.G.
(2014).
Personality
assessment.,
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I.G.,
Personality
Assessment.,
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Semi-structured Interviews., retrieved from http://www.qualres.org/HomeSemi-3629.html
Sentence Completion and Word Association., retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotter_
Incomplete_Sentence_Blank
Thematic Apperception Test., Retrieved from http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Thematic-ApperceptionTest.html
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T.L.,
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2
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1.
WEB RESOURCES
Page
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
M.A. EDUCATION
EDU-E 204: EDUCATION AND MENTAL
HEALTH
UNIT-1 INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL
HEALTH
PREPARED BY: DR. MEHRAJ UD DIN
SHEIKH
Page
1
2
3
123
COURSE OBJECTIVE
 To enable the students to understand the fundamentals of
mental health.
 To understand the Historical and Theoretical Perspectives of
Mental Health.
 To enable the students to know and develop the skills of
Adjustment Mechanisms.
CONCEPT OF MENTAL HEALTH
Mental Health means personal well-being, characterized by self-acceptance and feelings of
emotional security. Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘a
state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the
normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution
to his or her community’. A mental disorder is any illness that affects people’s emotions,
thoughts or behavior, which is out of keeping with their cultural beliefs and personality, and is
producing a negative effect on their lives or the lives of their families. There are many
different types of mental disorders ranging from common disorders such as depression and
anxiety to more severe ones such as schizophrenia. According to Healthy People 2010,
published by the U.S. government, mental health is a state of successful mental functioning,
resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships, and the ability to adapt to change and
cope with adversity. This blueprint for good health indicates that mental health is
indispensable to wellbeing, family and interpersonal relationships, and one’s contribution to
society. As mental illness is “any illness experienced by a person which effects their emotions,
thoughts or behavior, which is out of keeping with their cultural beliefs and personality and is
producing a negative effect on their or the lives of their families”
Each mental illness has its own characteristic symptoms. However, there are some general
warning signs that might alert you that some-one needs professional help. Some of these signs
include:










marked personality change,
inability to cope with problems and daily activities,
strange or grandiose ideas,
excessive anxieties,
prolonged depression and apathy,
marked changes in eating or sleeping patterns,
thinking or talking about suicide or harming oneself,
extreme mood swings—high or low,
abuse of alcohol or drugs, and
excessive anger, hostility, or violent behavior.
Page
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MENTAL HEALTH
MOVEMENT Attempts were taken to treat Mental illness dates
back to ancient civilization. Early man believed that mental illness
was the result of supernatural phenomena such as spiritual
possession, sorcery, the evil eye or an angry deity and so responded
with equally mystical and sometimes brutal treatments. During the
Neolithic times a hole was chipped into the skull using crude stone
instruments. It was believed that through this opening the evil spirits
thought to be inhabiting one’s head
and causing their
psychopathology would be released and the individual would be
cured. This procedure endured through the centuries to treat various
1
ailments such as skull fractures
and migraines as well as mental
2
illness. In ancient Mesopotamia priest doctors treated the mentally
4
ill with magico-religious practices. Exorcisms, incantations, prayer
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A person who shows any of these signs should seek help from a qualified health professional.
and other various mystical rituals were used to drive out the evil
spirit. Hebrews believed that all illness was inflicted upon humans
by God as punishment for committing sin and even evil spirit that
were thought to cause some illnesses were attributed to God’s wrath
(extreme anger). Yet, God was also seen as the ultimate healer and
generally Hebrew physicians were priests who had special
ways of appealing to the higher power in order to cure sickness. Along the same spiritual
lines ancient Persians attributed illness to demons and believed that good health could be
achieved through proper precautions to prevent and protect one from diseases. These
included adequate hygiene and purity of the mind and body achieved through good deeds and
thoughts.
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Ancient Egyptians seem to be the most forward-thinking in their treatment of mental illness as
they recommended that those afflicted with mental pathology engage in recreational activities
such as concerts, dances and painting in order to relieve symptoms and achieve some sense of
normalcy. The Egyptians were also very advanced in terms of medicine, surgery, and
knowledge of the human body. Edwin Smith papyrus and Ebers Papyrus document early
treatment of wounds, surgical operations, and identifies very likely for the first time the brain
as the site of mental functions. Ancient Egyptians also shared the early Greek belief that
hysteria in women now known as Conversion Disorder was caused by a ‘wandering uterus’
and so used fumigation (poisonous gas) of the vagina to lure the organ back into proper
position. In all of these ancient civilizations mental illness was attributed to some supernatural
force. Most illness particularly mental illness was thought to be afflicted upon an individual as
punishment for their trespasses. In addition to exorcism and prayer music was used a therapy
to affect emotion. Beliefs about mental illness i.e. it is with supernatural phenomena and how
to give proper treatments to these patients revolutionize. Greek physician Hippocrates denied
the long held belief that mental illness was caused by supernatural forces and instead proposed
that it happens with natural occurrences in the human body particularly pathology in the brain.
Hippocrates and Galen introduced the concept of the four essential fluids of the human body—
blood, phlegm, bile, and black bile—the combinations of which produced the unique
personalities of individuals.
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The fourth century AD witnessed the establishment of institutions solely for the mentally ill
patients in Byzantium and Jerusalem. The first psychiatric hospitals were built in the medieval
Islamic world from the 8th century. In the early 8th century, the first hospital was built in
Baghdad (705 AD). The first major modern mental hospital ‘Bethlehem Hospital’ was opened
in 1247 in London. By the late 18th century the condition of mentally ill patients in these
institutions was worse, restraint and abuse with poor clothing, unhygienic conditions, poor
nutrition, restricted movements due to chaining, scarcity of funds, lack of interest among the
ruling aristocracy etc.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century attempts were taken to care mentally ill
patients by propagating a humane approach. Mid nineteen fifties saw emergence of two major
forces which influenced the evolution of modern psychiatry as specific drugs like
chlorpromazine were discovered for treatment of mental illnesses, the second being the
antipsychiatry movement led by the likes of Goffman, Szaz and others, which along with the
economic recession were motivating factors for deinstitutionalization of mentally ill persons
and the evolution of the concepts of community psychiatry.
1.2.1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN INDIA Mental health
concern has long been a part of Indian culture which has evolved in a variety of ways
attempting to understand and negotiate psychological disorder. Atharva-Veda, mentions that
mental illness may result from divine curses. Ramayana and the Mahabharata made several
references to disordered states of mind and means of coping with them. Najabuddin (1222
AD) an Indian physician propagated the Unani system of medicine as he described seven
types of mental disorders;
Sauda-a-Tabee
(Schizophrenia); Muree-Sauda
(depression);
Ishk (delusion of love); Nisyan (Organic mental disorder);
Haziyan (paranoid state) and
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Malikholia-a-maraki (delirium). Psychotherapy was known as Ilaj-I-Nafsani in Unani
Medicine. The great saga ‘Agastya’ formulated a treatise on mental diseases called as
‘Agastiyar kirigai Nool’, in which 18 psychiatric disorders with appropriate treatment
methods were described.
During the reigns of King Asoka, many hospitals were established for patients with mental
illness. Hospitals were built with separate enclosures. Though there is not much evidence for
development of psychiatry in the Moghul period. The political instability prevailing in the
1700s saw development of asylums in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Mental hospitals
(asylums) in India were greatly influenced by British psychiatry function was more custodial
and less curative. The earliest mental hospital in India was established at Bombay (1745),
Calcutta (1787), Bihar (1795) and Madras (1794) during this period excited patients were
treated with opium (a drug made from the seeds of a Poppy and used to control pain or people
to sleep ), given hot baths and sometimes leeches were applied to suck their blood. Music was
also used a mode of therapy to calm down patients in some hospitals. The mentally ill patients
from the general population were care of by the local communities and by traditional Indian
medicine doctors qualified in Ayurveda and Unani medicine. In 1858-1918 moral management
systems which were developed and implemented in this period in the west were also adopted
in India. Drug treatments for psychiatric conditions were also introduced into India in this
period, e.g., chloral hydrate. In 2001 a horrific incidence took place at Erwadi in which 26
persons with mental illness died in a tragic fire accident. The response of the general
population, the administrators, the politicians, the press and the professionals was one of shock
and outrage. The National Human Rights Commission called for a Report the Supreme Court
initiated action on the matter. As a result many changes not only in Erwadi but also in the
different parts of the country started taking shape which proved to be a yardstick which
revamped
mental health services in the country. Research in psychiatry started rolling with
commencement of publication of first journal dedicated to mental health the “Indian Journal of
Neurology and Psychiatry” in 1949. The Indian Journal of Psychiatry started in 1958 and has
now completed 50 golden years of continuous enrichment in the field of psychiatry in India.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES:
PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
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Psychodynamic models of psychopathology contribute much to the investigation of
abnormality and to the study of personality in general. The psychodynamic view pivots around
the strong influence of the unconscious and internal psychological conflict on human emotions
and behavior and in the development of psychiatric disorders. Neo-analytic models such as ego
analytic, ego psychology and self/object relations models have gained increasing popularity.
Psychodynamic approach is an approach that strives for explanation of behavior in terms of
motives or drives. Psychodynamic therapy first suggested by Freud based on the premise that
the primary sources of abnormal behavior are unresolved past conflicts. According to Medical
Encyclopedia Wikipedia, “Psychodynamic means the interaction of various conscious and
unconscious mental or emotional processes especially as they influence personality, behavior
and attitudes.” Psychodynamic psychologists assume that our behavior is determined by
unconscious forces of which we are unaware each manifesting thought or behavior hides a
latent motive or intention. The latent motives of our behavior reflect
instinctive biological drives and our early experiences. During the first part of 20th
century Psychodynamic theory was the dominant school of thought within psychiatry.
Psychodynamics also known as dynamic psychology in its broadest
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sense is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological
forces that underlie human behavior, feelings and emotions and how they might relate to early
experience.
The core of psychoanalytic theory is that all behavior, thoughts and emotions are influenced by
unconscious processes and internal forces. These internal forces are considered to be dynamic
in nature and thus always changing. The ways in which the internal forces interact with one
another gives rise to behavior, thoughts and emotions. When the forces are in conflict
abnormal behavior arises. Psychoanalytic theory has a deterministic assumption meaning that
no symptom or behavior is accidental but rather it is all determined. In particular it is
determined by past experiences particularly those during early childhood.
Sigmund Freud used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the mind as flows
of psychological energy (libido) in an organically complex brain. The idea for this came from
Ernst Brucke who held the view that all living organisms including humans are basically
energy systems to which the principle of the conservation of energy applied. This principle
states that “the total amount of energy in any given physical system is always constant that
energy quanta can be changed but not annihilated and that consequently when energy is moved
from one part of the system it must reappear in another part”. However, it is now clear that the
term energy in physics means something quite different from the term energy in relation to
mental functioning. Psychodynamics was initially further developed by Carl Jung, Alfred
Adler and Melanie Klein. Sigmund Freud founder father of psychodynamic theory and
psychoanalysis suggested that the unconscious mind is divided into multiple parts including
the irrational and impulsive id (a representation
of
primal
animal
desires),
the
judgmental super-ego (a
representation of the rules and norms of society inside the mind), and the rational ego (which
serves as an attempt to bridge the other two parts).
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How do psychodynamic psychologists explain
human behavior? Psychodynamic psychologists see
behavior as the result of a compromise between three
parts of the psyche (personality). Each person has
biological drives (eating, drinking, sex, aggression)
from their id. These need to be satisfied but this is
prevented by the superego (the moral part of the
psyche) which uses anxiety and guilt to prevent us
from acting on the id’s impulses. Between the two is
the ego which tries to find ways of satisfying the id in a
way that the superego will accept and that is in line
with reality. This often involves the use of defense
mechanisms which convert unconscious impulses into
more acceptable forms.
How do psychodynamic psychologists study human
behavior? Psychodynamic psychologists study human
behavior by looking for the hidden meanings in the
things that people think, do or say. This requires them
to gather large amounts of qualitative data about people
which are usually done through the use of the
individual case study method. The subject of the case
study is often a person who is suffering from a
psychological disorder and who is being treated with
psychoanalysis. The analyst gathers information from
the things the person says or does in therapy (including
free association and dream descriptions). The material
is examined in order to identify repeating ideas and
themes which might reflect unconscious motives and
memories. The researcher must interpret the material
by discovering how it is symbolic of issues in the
subject’s unconscious. An example of psychodynamic
research is Freud’s (1909) case study of ‘Little Hans’,
who had a phobia of horses. Freud interpreted the
boy’s phobia as being a displaced fear of his father and
his fear of being bitten by a horse as a manifestation of
his castration anxiety. Freud identified a number of
symbolic links
that Hans had unconsciously made between his father and horses and used his analysis as
evidence for the existence of the Oedipus complex in boys.
COGNITIVE PRESPECTIVE
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Cognitive models of abnormality assume that the way a person interprets and evaluates
experience through his or her thoughts leads directly to emotional and behavioral
consequences. These units of thought are called cognitions. Activities involving reasoning,
memory, imagining, problem solving, and decision making form the mental representations of
events in one’s life and are called cognitive processes. Short-term cognitive processes are
referred to as “expectations, attributions, and appraisals,” and long-term cognitive processes
are called “beliefs.” When viewing psychopathology (the study of abnormal behavior) from a
cognitive perspective, illogical, erroneous, or irrational thoughts are seen as the cause of the
maladaptive behavioral responses.
Behaviorists believe that maladaptive behavior is learned through the principles of
conditioning and reinforcement; however, cognitive psychologists note that phobias, fear
reactions, or aggressive behavior can be acquired through observation or modeling alone,
without any direct experience, as Albert Bandura demonstrated in the case of aggression.
Bandura conducted a study in which children observed and then imitated adult “parental
models” whom they viewed punching and kicking an inflatable “Bobo” doll. It became
increasingly apparent that strict behavioral explanations for abnormal behavior were
inadequate. Cognitive psychologists began to look for the intervening variable and proposed
that the key to behavioral responses is the way people think about and perceive events. The
children who imitated the parental models probably thought, “If a grown-up can kick and
punch that doll, then I can too.”
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Dissonant cognitions and their contribution to anxiety disorders or neurotic behavior was
explained by Carl Rogers in the early 1960’s. Rogers believed that the stronger the magnitude
or perception of threat, the more likely it is that a person will resort to denying or distorting
the event. This happens as the person attempts to cope with information that is dissonant
(does not fit) with his or her expectations. As a result of this process, Rogers suggested, one’s
self-image lowers as coping strategies for anxiety begin to fail.
Aaron T. Beck and Donald Meichenbaum both developed comprehensive theories regarding
the influence of cognitive processes on the onset and maintenance of psychiatric disorders
such as anxiety and depression. Beck systematically studied the illogical or negative thought
processes of an individual that occur in response to stimuli through a process called rational
analysis. He set up a series of homework assignments, designed to be accomplished easily, to
assist the client in changing maladaptive thoughts and behaviors. By encouraging the client to
engage in behaviors he or she has previously avoided, Beck demonstrated the ability to
change the irrational beliefs that had inhibited those behaviors in the first place.
Beck’s cognitive interpretation of anxiety disorders is the following: Such a disorder has
occurred when a person has a negative, distorted view (schema) of some event, thing, or
person and responds with anxiety when exposed to the feared situation or stimulus because of
this distorted view. These cognitive errors are thought to be based on early experiences, and
they lead to negative attributions, such as “I did not get promoted because I cannot handle
any stress,” or to negative appraisals, such as “I am a nervous person.” Expectations are other
forms of short- term cognitions; they include “outcome expectations” that refer to the desired
outcome and “efficacy expectations” that refer to whether the person has the capacity to
accomplish a behavior that produces a desired outcome. Attributions, or
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automatic explanations for events, can be global (”I am a failure at everything”) or specific
(”I am not good at football”). They can be stable (fixed), as in “I will always be unhappy,” or
unstable (changing), as in “I am having a bad day but tomorrow will be better,” and can be
internal, as in “It is my fault I had an accident; I should have seen the car coming through the
stop sign,” or external, as in “The other person ran the stop sign and hit my car.” A cognitive
therapist tries to get clients to adjust their attributions to be specific, unstable, and external in
order to improve problems such as anxiety.
Beck used the cognitive model to understand how depression arises and is maintained. He
proposed the existence of a “negative cognitive triad” that consists of negative thoughts about
the present, the past, and the future. This negative triad forms a vicious circle of thinking that
leads to the hopelessness and helplessness associated with depressive disorders. A cognitive
therapist would intervene at any point in the triad to change the pessimistic outlook and to
help the client increase involvement in positive rewarding experiences. Donald
Meichenbaum, a cognitive therapist, explored a client’s illogical beliefs and used an
interview style he called “Columbo style interviewing,” in which the therapist encourages the
client to assist in solving the mystery of why illogical thoughts are allowed to influence the
client’s behavior. Meichenbaum, in a supportive but gently confrontational manner, engaged
the client in the therapeutic task.
Most cognitive psychologists use techniques such as “thought substitution” and “behavioral
substitution” to replace negative thoughts and behaviors with more appropriate behaviors.
The process of changing the negative or illogical thought processes has been called cognitive
restructuring. For example, Meichenbaum might say to a client, “Maybe you think you have
no friends or that no one likes
you, but that cannot be true, because you just named six people with whom you socialize
regularly. I wonder if you can help me figure this puzzle out?”
Albert Ellis used a form of cognitive therapy he called rational-emotive therapy to
accomplish the corrective process. Ellis used a technique called disputation to help a person
replace damaging thoughts such as “I should always be perfect” or “Everyone must always
love me” with more realistic ideas. Ellis’s belief that people are ruled by their “shoulds” and
“musts” and need to become aware of this to live happier and fuller lives led to his treatment
approach.
Cognitive processes have been examined as contributors to childhood psycho- pathology.
Developmental psychologists focus on cognitive functions as organizing capacities for
children’s ego functions. This model uses an information- processing analogy for the various
ego functions (reasoning, problem solving, and so on). As the child progresses
developmentally and cognitively, the cognitive information-processing functions become more
complex and sophisticated. Individuals who have difficulty with these cognitive functions may
be more vulnerable to experiencing psychopathology, since their ego functions are not as
flexible or adaptive as those of a person who has achieved higher developmental levels of
cognitive functioning. Children who have major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia
may have immature, egocentric ego capacity, compared to mentally healthy children.
BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
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Behavioral models of abnormal behavior use principles of learning to explain how
maladaptive behaviors develop. Learning-based explanations have proved useful for both
conceptualizing the development of abnormality and developing effective treatments for
abnormal behaviors. Behaviorists assume that the only things that
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are real are the things we can see and observe. We cannot see the mind, the id, or the
unconscious but we can see how people act, react and behave. From behavior we may be able
to make inferences about the minds and the brain but they are not the primary focus of the
investigation. Likewise the behaviorist does not look to the mind or the brain to understand
the causes of abnormal behavior. Behaviorism see psychological disorders as the result of
maladaptive learning, as people are born tabula rasa. The behavioral model asserts that normal
as well as abnormal behaviors are acquired through learning. Unlike biomedical or
psychodynamic models, which view abnormal behavior as symptoms of underlying pathology
(biochemical disturbance and psychological conflicts), the behavioral model does not postulate
underlying causes. Behavioral explanations state that behavior is determined by the
environment. Genetically or biologically determined variations in abilities are accepted. Apart
from this, however, the behavioral model asserts that specific behavioral characteristics are
acquired through learning experiences. Therefore, the same individual has the potential to
develop numerous different characteristics. For example, the factors that determine whether
one will become a criminal or a priest are the learning experiences one has.
Behavioral models of abnormal behavior have emerged from two basic learning processes:
classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is typically used to
explain how emotional and physiological responses can be brought under the control of cues in
the environment. For example, the emotional (fear) and physiological (increased heart rate)
responses elicited by the presentation of a dog to an individual with cynophobia (an extreme,
unrealistic fear of dogs) can be explained by classical conditioning. “Voluntary” behaviors,
however, such as running away when a dog is seen, can be explained by operant conditioning.
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The classical conditioning model states that by pairing a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that
produces an unlearned emotional or physiological response (called the unconditioned
response), the neutral stimulus (now called the conditioned stimulus) can take on properties
that allow it to elicit a response (called the conditioned response) that is similar to the
unconditioned response. Stimulus generalization is said to occur when stimuli that are similar
to the conditioned stimulus take on the ability to elicit a conditioned response. Principles
derived from the study of classical conditioning have led to the development of useful
conceptualizations of fear-based abnormal behaviors. Whereas the classical conditioning
model has been useful in demonstrating how “nonvoluntary” (emotional and physiological)
reactions can be learned, principles of operant conditioning have been useful in explaining
goal-directed, “voluntary” behaviors. The basic assumption of the operant conditioning
model is that behaviors are controlled by their consequences. Positive reinforces are
consequences that, when presented following the performance of a target behavior, result in
the increased occurrence of that target behavior in the future. Negative reinforcers are
consequences that allow the escape from aversive situations and result in an increase in
avoidance and escape behaviors in the future. Punishers are consequences that result in the
decreased occurrence of the punished behavior in the future. The operant conditioning model
views the consequences of behaviors as responsible for shaping behavior, both normal and
abnormal.
Behavioral explanations have been presented to explain nearly all classes of abnormal
behaviors. The usefulness of this model in accounting for the etiology of the vast range of
abnormal behaviors is, however, varied. Behavioral explanations have been most useful in
accounting for maladaptive behaviors characterized by relatively discrete, overt responses
that are considered abnormal because of their excessive, deficient, or inappropriate
expression. Examples include
phobias,
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psycho-physiological disorders (abnormal physical responses not caused by physical
pathology), paraphilias (abnormal sexual arousal toward nonhuman objects), and conduct
disturbances (such as oppositional or delinquent behaviors). Empirical evidence exists that
demonstrates the process of learning and unlearning these abnormal responses.
Abnormal behaviors that are characterized by abnormal covert processes, such as disturbances
in attention, perception, thought, and emotion, do not lend them- selves to behavioral
explanations. For example, schizophrenia is an abnormal behavior characterized by the
presence of bizarre behavior, unrealistic thoughts, auditory or visual hallucinations, and
inappropriate emotional expressions. The biomedical model, which postulates underlying brain
pathology, provides a more useful general explanation for the development of schizophrenia
than that provided by the behavioral model.
Although the behavioral model is not useful as a general explanation for the development of
some disorders, it is helpful in explaining individual differences in overt behavior across all
types of abnormality. Despite the likely contribution of biological factors in the formation of
some classes of abnormal behavior, environ- mental-learning factors also continue to be
influential. Principles of classical and operant conditioning are just as responsible for
shaping the behaviors of
schizophrenics as they are for shaping the behaviors of everyone else. Although the
environment affects persons differently (partly as a result of biological differences between
individuals), it does not cease to control behavior. Thus, in many cases behavioral models offer
good general explanations for abnormal behaviors, while in other cases behavioral
explanations must be combined with other models to produce useful explanations.
In nutshell, behaviorism assumes that all behavior is learnt from the environment and
symptoms are acquired through classical conditioning and
operant
conditioning. Classical conditioning involves learning by association and is usually the cause
of most phobias. Operant conditioning involves learning by reinforcement and can explain
abnormal behavior should as eating disorders. Consequently, if a behavior is learnt, it can
also be unlearned. The premise is that all behavior is learned; faulty learning (i.e.
conditioning) is the cause of abnormal behavior. Therefore the individual has to learn the
correct or acceptable behavior.
An important feature of behavioral therapy is its focus on current problems and behavior, and
on attempts to remove behavior the patient finds troublesome. This contrasts greatly with
psychodynamic where the focus is much more on trying to uncover unresolved conflicts from
childhood (i.e. the cause of abnormal behavior). Examples of behavior therapy include:
 Systematic Desensitization
 Aversion Therapy
 Flooding
HUMANISTIC APPROACH
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Humanistic Psychology is an approach to understanding human nature, behavior and mental
health that focuses on an individual’s personal experience. The American Association for
Humanistic Psychology was founded in 1962 by Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Kurt
Goldstein, Rollo May and others. Humanistic psychology emphasizes individual choice,
creativity, valuation, self-realization and the development of each person’s potential.
Humanistic psychologists believe that people have a hierarchy of many needs, beginning with
physiological needs, as well as those for safety, love, “belongingness,” self-esteem, to know
and under- stand and, finally, self-actualization. Humanistic psychology differs from the
Freudian approach, which suggested that sexual drive is the motivating force, and behavioral
psychology, which explains behavior as a result of various environmental relationships.
Humanistic psychology is a branch of psychology that
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emphasizes the human tendencies toward growth and fulfillment, autonomy, choice,
responsibility, and ultimate values such as truth, love, and justice. Humanistic psychology has
its roots in existentialism and phenomenological thought.
Humanistic models provide a way of understanding psychopathology that is an alternative to
those offered by the biological, psychoanalytic, and behavioral and social learning paradigms.
In contrast to explaining abnormal behavior through biological or physiological defects or
anomalies (the medical or illness model), or through unconscious intra-psychic conflict and
unresolved psychosexual developmental issues from the first six years of life (the
psychoanalytic model), or as a result of past conditioning or reinforcement history or
observational learning (the learning paradigm), humanistic-existential models essentially
maintain that abnormality reflects and results from a failure to grow and to realize one’s
potentials. The humanistic viewpoint emphasizes that all people have the human potential to
grow and the capacity for full functioning; given the proper conditions for growth, people
will be self-determining, will exercise choice and responsibility, and will fulfill their potential
and be self-actualizing.
Abnormality is the failure of such growth and development to be realized. Thus, in the
humanistic model, health is not necessarily the absence of disease, but is instead something
positive. Whereas the medical or illness model has traditionally stressed movement or change
from sickness to normalcy, the humanistic model emphasizes change from normalcy or
deficiency in growth to full functioning. The humanistic model also maintains that people must
develop values and make their choices freely, based on their own experiences. If a person
blindly accepts others’ values and choices, then the person will lose a sense of self and become
incongruent. Such incongruence is equivalent to abnormality.
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The self is a central theme for humanistic psychologists. Carl Rogers postulated that all
people have an actualizing tendency to maintain and enhance themselves, including their selfconcept. Rogers described an organismic valuing process: What is experienced as satisfying
is consistent with the actualizing tendency, and what is unsatisfying is not in accord with this
tendency. When people distort or even deny experiences in conscious awareness, they have
given up using their self or their organismic valuing process. Instead, they adopt conditions of
worth that have been imposed by parents or other significant people. By becoming what
others want them to be, or evaluating according to others’ perceptions or experience, they
obtain the positive regard and caring that is so important, but they sacrifice accurate and
efficient perception of reality, and ultimately lose their true selves.
Failure to satisfy basic needs leads to deficiency and is another source of psychopathology.
Abraham Maslow’s motivational theory described a hierarchy of basic needs. Ranging from
the more powerful to the less prepotent higher needs, these are physiological requirements,
safety and security, love and belongingness, esteem and regard, aesthetic and cognitive, and
self-actualization needs. In healthy, self-actualizing individuals, all the lower needs in the
hierarchy are or have at one time been adequately satisfied; thus, these individuals can express
more of their self-actualizing needs and motives (which include values such as truth, justice,
beauty, and wholeness).
People are not self-actualizing if they are motivated primarily by lower deficiency needs, such
as for safety, belongingness, or esteem; the self-actualization or growth motivation is the
weakest of all the needs in the hierarchy. Maslow and other humanistic psychologists have
identified other reasons why so few individuals may be self-actualizing. The force of habit, the
tendency to stay where one is (inertia),
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and the fear of becoming all that one can be (which Maslow called the Jonah complex) are
some psychological forces that conspire against growth. The misfortunes of poverty, poor
parenting, or other socio-cultural barriers can prevent growth motivation from being central.
The tremendous power of culture, which can greatly inhibit deviation from the norm, or
societal sanctions that can punish (socially or otherwise) those who stray too far beyond what
society dictates as Abnormality: Humanistic-Existential Models Psychology and Mental
Health normal or acceptable prevent many from realizing their true self-expression and
potentials. Certain political freedoms are also basic requisites for human fulfillment.
According to Maslow, when a person does not function according to growth motivation and
the various self-actualization needs (truth, beauty, justice, and others), then he or she suffers
from various kinds of spiritual disorders such as cynicism, nihilism, or emptiness. Spiritual or
existential disorders are also high- lighted by the existential perspective. All humans must
have the courage, commit- ment, and will to use their freedom to choose values that guide
life, give life its meaning, and emphasize obligations to others. Failure to choose, to create
one’s essence, or to deal with normal guilt (awareness of not fulfilling potentials) or normal
existential anxiety (stemming from challenges to one’s values and from awareness of one’s
ultimate death or nonbeing) results in existential despair and frustration. An existential
disorder or crisis is often a reflection of perceived meaninglessness, isolation, alienation, or
valuelessness.
Both Rogers and Maslow characterized the actualizing tendency or self- actualization need as
positive, constructive, rational, trustworthy, and in the direction of growth and harmony.
Existentialists not quite so optimistically, place additional emphasis on irrational forces and
the potentiality of evil in the normal
human personality. Optimal health, full functioning, self-actualization, or existential being can
be difficult to realize; Maslow spoke of the “psychopathology of the average,” meaning that
most normal people are content to be adjusted to their social group of society, and do not truly
grow and realize their full potentials as human beings. Indeed, Maslow suggested that perhaps
only 1 percent of the American population might be self-actualizing. Existential crises,
problems of values and meaning, stunted growth, and lack of fulfillment are not uncommon
among materially comfortable people.
What assumptions do humanistic psychologists
make?
Humanistic psychologists start from the assumption that every person has their own unique
way of perceiving and understanding the world and that the things they do only make sense in
this light. Consequently, the kinds of questions they ask about people differ from those asked
by psychologists from other approaches. Whereas other approaches take an objective view of
people, in essence asking about them, ‘what is this person like?’ humanistic psychologists’
priority is understanding people’s subjectivity, asking ‘what is it like to be this person’ As a
result, they reject the objective scientific method as a way of studying people.
How do
behavior?
humanistic
psychologists
explain
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Carl Rogers’ idea about behaviour centre on the self, which is the person’s consciousness of
their own identity. Rogers believed that people could only fulfill their potential for growth if
they had a basically positive view of themselves (positive self regard). This can only happen if
they have the unconditional positive regard of others – if they feel that they are valued and
respected without reservation by those around them. The problem that most people have, as
Rogers saw it, was that most people don’t perceive the positive regard of others as being
unconditional. Rather, they think they will only be loved and valued if they meet
certain conditions of worth (e.g. behaving well, passing lots of exams etc.) These conditions of
worth create incongruity within the self between the real self (how the person is) and the ideal
self (how they think they should be). The person tries to close the gap between the real and
idea self but most people do this in unhelpful ways, possibly by chasing achievements that
won’t actually make them content or by distorting their view of themselves or the world. For
example a student who believes they are only worth anything if they get perfect exam scores
may deal with a grade ‘B’ either by dismissing it as outright failure, thereby robbing
themselves of an achievement, or by blaming their teachers, thereby preventing themselves
from taking action that might improve their grades
NEUROSIS AND PSYCHOSIS
NEUROSIS
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An old term for a variety of mental health disorders including hysteria, obsessions and
compulsions, phobias, some depressions, some traumatic reactions, addictions, psychosomatic
disorders, some sexual disorders, and anxiety. Neurosis is a chronic mental disorder
characterized by distressing and unacceptable anxiety. The term neurosis was coined by
the William Cullen in 1769 to refer to "disorders of sense and motion" caused by a "general
affection of the nervous system." Cullen used the term to describe various nervous disorders
and symptoms that could not be explained physiologically. However, the meaning of the term
was redefined Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Alfred Adler (1870-1937), Carl Jung (1875-1961),
and Karen Horney (1885-1952) all made major contributions toward understanding neuroses
by over a century later. Sigmund Freud founded psychoanalysis with his work on the causes
and treatment of neurotic and psychopathic states. The methods that he developed form the
root of all “talking therapies.” Freud proposed that
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psychological conflicts produce neuroses according to the inner conflicts produced by fears or
guilt around one’s emerging sexual drives. The conflicts, if not resolved on a conscious level,
are repressed on the unconscious level, where they drive a person to act according to one or
more of the various neurotic symptoms.
Adler created an individual psychology for the twentieth century. Adler said that neurotic
persons form a rigid way of thinking about themselves and others. They then project that rigid
thought process onto the world. They proceed to operate as though the world accepted their
rigid thinking as real. This tendency is at the basis of the neurotic thought processes of sadism,
hatred, intolerance, envy, and irresponsibility.
Jung founded analytic psychology, which studies mental behavior as complexes of behavior,
emotion, thought, and imagery. He opened up psychology to religious and mystical
experiences. Jung wrote that neuroses are a dissociation of the personality caused by splitting.
A person has a conscious set of values or beliefs which conflict with an opposite set of
feelings. The person, rather than resolving the problem, maintains the rational-emotive split
as one or more of the forms of neuroses.
Horney developed a psychoanalytic theory of humans who evolve within their culture,
family, and environment. She was sensitive to the negative effects of a male-dominated
psychology, attempting to explain women’s experiences. Horney believed that neuroses are
disturbances in the relationship of self-to-self and self- to-other. If one’s development in
childhood is disturbed from its normal pattern, the adult will use one of three neurotic coping
styles: compliance, aggressiveness, or detachment. These four psychologists agreed that
neuroses are a childhood
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developmental defect which impairs the adult’s rational-emotional integration, appearing as
one or more of the indirect symptoms of anxiety.
A neurosis is experienced at a level of severity that is less than psychotic but significant
enough to impair a person’s functioning. The term “neurosis” includes nine psychological
states: hysteria, obsessions and compulsions, phobias, some depressions, some traumatic
reactions, addictions, psychosomatic disorders, some sexual disorders, and anxiety. In
neurosis, the individual does not lose touch with reality but realizes that he or she is not
mentally healthy. In psychosis, the individual loses touch with reality and believes that he or
she does not have any illness.
Hysteria features somatic symptoms resembling those of a physical disease without actual
physical illness (for example, a headache without organic cause). Hysteria: the presence of
somatic symptoms resembling those of a physical disease without actual physical illness.
phobia: an abnormal fear that arises because an inner fear is displaced onto an object or
situation outside the individual Phobias are abnormal fears that arise because an inner fear is
displaced onto an object or situation outside the individual (for example, impotence to deal
with fear of intimacy).
Obsessions: a recurrent thought that is foreign or intrusive. (recurrent thoughts) and
compulsions (repetitively per-formed behaviors) bear little relation to the person’s needs and
are experienced by the person as foreign or intrusive (for example, repeated hand washing).
Depression: a mood of sadness, unhappiness, hopelessness, loss of interest, difficulty
concentrating, and lack of a sense of self-worth. Depression is a mood of
sadness, unhappiness, hopelessness, loss of interest, difficulty concentrating, and lack of a
sense of self-worth.
Addiction: the use of substances or self-defeating behaviors to fulfill one’s need for love
instead of loving self or another person. Addictions are the use of sub- stances or selfdefeating behaviors to fulfill one’s need for love instead of loving self or another person (for
example, addiction to gambling).
Psychosomatic disorder: an organic illness caused by psychological distress. Psychosomatic
disorders are organic illnesses caused by psychological distress (for example, pepticulcer).
Sexual disorders are the avoidance of developing adult sexual competency by immature
sexual behavior (for example, exhibitionism).
Traumatic reactions in the past delay or impair normal development in the present (for
example, childhood sexual abuse leads to difficulty with intimacy as an adult).
Anxiety: a generalized anxious affect which is pervasive and without a known cause. Anxiety
is experienced as a generalized anxious affect which is pervasive and without a known cause
(for example, a person chronically worrying that “something bad will happen”).
PSYCHOSIS
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Psychosis is the most severe mental disorder, in which the individual loses contact with
reality and suffers from such symptoms as delusions and hallucinations.
The individual with a psychosis displays disordered thinking, emotion, and behavior. The
individual fails to make sense of his or her surroundings, reacts inaccurately to them, and
develops false thoughts or ideas about them. The
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resulting behavior can be described as peculiar, abnormal, or bizarre. Psychosis runs in
families and most often first appears in late adolescence or early adulthood.
There are medical and physical causes of some psychoses and some for which the cause is
unknown.
Psychotic symptoms are characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disturbances of movement,
and/or speech disturbances.
Delusions are false beliefs that are held despite strong evidence to the contrary. An example of
an extreme delusion might be a man who believes that someone has planted a radio transmitter
in his brain that sends signals to creatures on Mars.
Hallucinations are false perceptions of the senses Hallucinations can involve any of the
five senses. Examples of extreme hallucinations include feeling as if one is covered by ants;
seeing green cows walking through the wall; hearing voices that do not exist; and smelling a
constant odor when none is present.
Disturbances of movement can occur with psychoses. For example, a woman may become
much exaggerated in her movements or, conversely, may become motionless for periods of
time. These disturbances of movement are clearly bizarre and unnatural.
Finally, speech disturbances are very common in psychoses. A man might speak in a way
which is not understandable to others. He may carry on a conversation in which he believes
that he is communicating normally but without making sense. Alternatively, speech might be
clear but the individual shifts from one unrelated idea to another without being aware of
doing so.
Another psychotic symptom is severe emotional turmoil described as intense shifting moods
with accompanying feelings of being confused.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PSYCHOSIS AND NEUROSIS
NEUROSIS
PSYCHOSIS
Neuroses also known as Psychoneuroses Psychoses are major personality
refer to minor mental disorders. They disorders marked by gross emotional
are characterized by inner struggles and and mental disruptions.
certain mental and physical disturbances
While in psychoneuroses only a part of
the personality is affected.
Psychoses involve a change in the
whole personality of the person in
whom it appears
The reality contact practically remains
intact in a psychoneurotic
In a psychoses, contact with reality is
totally lost or changed
Language, which is a means of Psychoses language often undergoes
communication, is the symbolizing gross distortion.
function for social adaptation. In the
psychoneuroses language as such is
never disturbed
The psychoneurotic on the contrary,
suffers libidinal regression only to the
phallic or late anal period as his conflict
may be considered as a struggle between
the forces of the id and the ego, in which
the ego maintains its contact with
expressed reality. The regression is only
to the level of reality testing and so the
neurotic retains insight and does not
deny reality
In psychoanalytic theory the psychoses
may be differentiated from the
psychoneuroses in terms of the amount
of ego and libido regression and in
terms of the topographical location of
the conflict. In psychoses therefore the
libidinal regression goes as deep as the
early anal period i.e., beyond the level
of reality Psychoses may therefore be
considered dynamically as a disorder in
which the ego looses much of its contact
with reality and is more concerned with
the forces of the id testing.
As regards etiology Page says that in
psychoneuroses the psychogenic factors
On the other hand, in psychoses,
heredity, toxic and neurological factors
27
27
predominantly Some psychoses are primarily organic.
Page
Psychoneuroses are
socially conditioned.
and heredity are of considerable are the determining agents. Psychogenic
importance,
where
as
neuro- factors as such may or may not be
physiological and chemical factors are important.
insignificant
Neurotics are capable of self
management, partial or completely self
supporting, are rarely suicidal. They do
not need hospitalization
On the other hand; psychotics are
incapable of self management. They
often attempt to commit suicide and
need hospitalization or equivalent home
care.
The personality of the neurotic On the other hand, there is radical
undergoes little or no change from change in personality; insight is partially
normal self. A neurotic has good or completely lost.
insight. In case of a psychotic
CONCEPT
OF
PERSONALITY
NORMAL
AND
ABNORMAL
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Numerous attempts have been made to develop definitive criteria to distinguish normal and
abnormal personality. Some of these criteria focus on features/characteristics such as normal,
ideal, state of mental health, as illustrated in the writings of Offer and Sabshin (1974, 1991).
The most common criterion employed is a statistical one in which normality is determined by
those behaviors that are found most frequently in a social group, and pathology or
abnormality by features that are uncommon in that population. Moreover, personality is so
complex that certain areas of personological functioning operate normally, although others do
not. In addition, behaviors that prove adaptive at one time fail to do so at another. Abnormal
personality results from the same forces as involved in the development of normal
personality. Important differences in the character,
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timing, and intensity of these influences will lead some individuals to acquire pathological
traits and others to develop adaptive traits. When an individual displays an ability to cope
with the environment in a flexible manner, and when his or her typical perceptions and
behaviors foster personal satisfaction, then the person may be said to possess a normal or
healthy personality. Conversely, when average or everyday responsibilities are responded to
inflexibly or defectively or when the individual’s perceptions and behaviors result in personal
discomfort or restrict opportunities to learn and to grow, then we may speak of a pathological
or maladaptive pattern.
Despite the weak and fluctuating nature of the normality–pathology distinction, certain
features may be abstracted from the flow of personality characteristics to serve as
differentiating criteria; notable among them are an adaptive inflexibility, a tendency to foster
brutal or self-defeating circles, and a tenuous emotional stability under conditions of stress
(Millon, 1969, 1981, 1991). No sharp line divides normal from pathological behavior. Study
of the interface between normal and abnormal personality was brought with the publication
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric
Association, 1980). There for, the first time personality was separated from other mental
disorders, and clinicians were asked to consider additional forms of psychiatric pathology
(e.g., depression) in the context of their patients’ enduring patterns of experience and behavior.
DSM-III and subsequent editions (now DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000)
authorized clinicians to diagnose personality disorders (PDs), not normal personality styles,
but definitional criteria for PDs assumed knowledge of healthy functioning. The personality
types diagnosed as disorders in the current manual (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric
Association,
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2000) There are still many problems with definition, overlap of diagnostic criteria, and
differentiation of PDs from normal personality.
Essentially all believe that, in general, personality style is more a matter of degree than kind,
meaning that dimensionalized traits are more useful for understanding personality than
categorical distinctions. Philosophical accounts of individual differences in human character
appeared over 2500 years ago and had created sophisticated theories that explained normal and
abnormal behaviors as a function of ethereal manipulation, social pressures, personal choices,
and physical characteristics such as the quantity of fluids or “humors” in the body. Progress in
understanding personality from a scientific perspective took forward following Darwin’s
(1859) discovery of the evolution of species. Sigmund Freud (1895/1966; 1915/1957) sought
to develop a comprehensive model of normal and abnormal human behaviors based on
neurological evolution Freud could explain normal as well as abnormal behavior, and he could
treat people with a variety of ailments using his psychoanalytic methods. However, his ideas
seemed to explain some behaviors better than others; he lacked a comprehensive taxonomy,
and he discouraged experimental validation. The study of personality went in many directions
after Freud. In America, the psychologists Gordon Allport (1937) and Henry Murray (1938)
developed a science of personology that was independent of abnormal behavior.
M.A. EDUCATION
EDU-E 204: EDUCATION AND MENTAL
HEALTH
UNIT II: ADJUSTMENT AND
MALADJUSTMENT
PREPARED BY: DR. MEHRAJ UD DIN
SHEIKH
ADJUSTMENT
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Adjustment is a behavioral process by which individuals maintain equilibrium among their
various needs or between their needs and the obstacles of their environments. A sequence of
adjustment begins when a need is felt and ends when it is satisfied. Hungry people for
example, are stimulated by their physiological state to seek food. When they eat they reduce
the stimulating condition that provoked them to activity and they are thereby adjusted to this
particular need. Psychologists have interpreted adjustment from two important points of view.
The first point of view emphasizes the quality or efficiency of adjustment and the second lay
emphasize on the process by which an individual adjust in his external environment.
Adjustment may be defined as, “A state of life when the individual is more or less in harmony
with personal, biological, social and psychological needs and with the demands of physical
environment.” In the Dictionary of Behavioral Science by Wolman adjustment is defined as
the harmonious relationship with the environment involving the ability to satisfy most of
one’s needs and meet most of the demands, both physical and social, that are put upon one.
According to L.S. Shaffer, “Adjustment is the process by which living an organism maintains
balance between his needs and the circumstances that influence the satisfaction of these
needs”.
James Drever (1952) defines, “Adjustment means the modification to compensate for or meet
special conditions.
According to Gates and Jersild (1948), “Adjustment is a continual process in which a person
varies his behavior to produce a more harmonious relationship between himself and his
environment.
ADJUSTMENT PROCESS
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Adjustment refers to a process wherein one builds variations in the behavior to achieve
harmony with oneself, others or the environment with an aim to maintain the state of
equilibrium between the individual and the environment. It is imperative that adjustment will
encourage certain changes so that the optimum relationship between the self and surrounding
can be achieved and maintained. Psychological adjustment is that critical processes that will
help the person achieve harmony with his/ her current state, thus also leading to acceptance.
Satisfaction of psychological needs through social networks facilitates social and cultural
adjustments. Human beings learn the dynamics of the network from these experiences.
Changes in the environment triggers the interpersonal activities that can help achieve the
needs. This serves two purposes— meeting needs in the changed environment and increasing
expectancy of meeting needs in the future. Thus, adjustment process engages inner-inner as
well as an inner-outer relationship. This relationship could be harmonious or conflicting. The
harmony and conflict within and among one’s behaviour, value-belief systems, affective
reactions, etc works as major determinants of adjustment. It is a continuous process but most
of us are able to strike it. The very understanding of this process also makes us appreciate
whether the other person is adjusted or not. Discordance and inconsistency within and among
these determinants is interpreted as maladjustment.
Adjustment also demands that one should strike balance between needs and environmental
obstacles. Let us understand it with the help of the figure given below.
MOTIVE
Barrier
Goal, Motive
Barrier
Initial attempt
Subsequent trial
response
Goal
Goal, Motive
Perfected
Piaget (1952) has studied the adjustment process from different angles. He used the term
accommodation and assimilation to represent the alteration of oneself or environment as a
mean of adjustment. A person who carries his values and standards of conduct without any
change and maintains these in spite of major changes in the social climate is called
assimilator. A man who takes his standards from social context and changes his beliefs in
accordance with the altered values of the society is called accommodator.
MALADJUSTMENT
Maladjustment may be defined as an inability to react successfully and satisfactory to the
demands of one’s environment. Though the term applies to a wide range of biological and
social conditions, it often implies an individual’s failure to meet social or cultural
expectations. There is a difference of degrees between maladjustment and adjustment. It is
difficult to differentiate adjusted and maladjusted children only on the basis of observation.
There are certain symptoms which give some indications of maladjustment if excessively
used by children. These symptoms can be divided into the following three categories.
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(a) Physicals symptoms: Stuttering, stammering, scratching head, facial
twitching, biting nail, rocking feet, restlessness, drumming with fingers and
vomiting.
(b) Behavioral Symptoms: Behavioral symptoms include aggression,
bullying, poor school achievement, hyperactivity, negativism and sex
disturbances etc.
(c) Emotional Symptoms: Excessive worries, fear, inferiority, hatred, extreme
timidity, temper tantrum, persistent anxiety, conflict and tension.
2.2.1 CAUSES OF MALADJESTMENT
Maladjustment is a complex problem of human behavior; no single factor can be pin-pointed
named as its cause. It is the outcome of multifactors interacting with the developing
personality of the child. There are various conditions which lead to frustration of needs which
is the basic cause of maladjustment. These are:
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(a) Physique: Physique and appearance play an important role in the social
development of the child. If the child is physically weak, ugly and has
some handicaps he may be shunned by others. Even the parents make
comparison in their children. Comments by parents, siblings and strangers
affect the behavior of weak, ugly, handicapped children resulting in
maladjustment.
(b) Long sickness and injuries: long sickness of the child affects his social
development and academic achievement in school.
(c) Poverty: there is a positive correlation between poverty and maladjustment
in children. Highest percentage of maladjusted children comes from low
socio- economic conditions. But it is not necessarily true that all children
who come from under-privileged class are maladjusted, the crucial factor in
poor homes is that parents cannot even fulfill the legitimate needs of their
children. Thus frustrations of needs lead to maladjusted behavior.
(d) Broken Home: Children belong to broken homes are often more
maladjusted than children from more stable homes. Children in broken
homes do not get much affection, love, sympathy and security. They are
emotionally disturbed which leads to maladjustment.
(e) Personal Inadequacies: i addition to physical appearances, there are
certain inequalities in children which frustration their needs and create
constant anxiety. The parents, who are ambitious and set high goals for
their children
irrespective of their physical and mental abilities, create frustration in their children.
(f) Parental Attitude: An important factor which affects the adjustment is the
attitude of parents towards their children. The parents may reject the child.
The rejected child may develop the feelings of insecurity, helplessness and
loneliness. Rejection and lack of affection may lead to maladjusted
behavior.
(g) Adoption: adopted children are maladjusted may they become to know the
fact. If a child is adopted in early infancy and the problem of adoption is
psychological dealt with, then adopted children resemble with their foster
parents in many qualities.
(h) Emotional Shock: children who experience emotional shocks such as
death, accidents, riots, floods etc may manifest maladjustment in their
behavior.
(i) Class difference: In a country where there are class differences some are
privileged classes and some are underprivileged classes. On the basis of
these class differences, different treatments are given to the children belong
to different communities and socio-economic classes which lead to
maladjustment.
(j) Employment insecurity: adolescents are very ambitious for their future
career. They look ahead to eventual economic independence in the form of
a job but when they find no opportunity to get a job, they become restless,
anxious and sometimes rebellious against the society out of frustration.
In addition to the above factors, there are many other factors in the school which contribute to
the problem of maladjustment. These are:
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 Inadequate curriculum,
 Lack of recreational activates,
 Classroom climate,
 Restrained relationship between administrator-teachers, teacherteacher, student-teacher,
 Faulty system of examination.
ADJESTMENT MECHANISMS:
DEFENSE MECHANISM
When unconscious wishes seep into the conscious mind, it can be distressing to individuals. As
a way of coping, individuals develop defense mechanisms to help disguise or transform the
unacceptable, unconscious desires. All people use defense mechanisms on occasion to protect
themselves from their unconscious desires. Freud argued that the particular pattern of defense
mechanisms a person uses helps shape his or her personality. When maladaptive mechanisms
are used or when an individual’s behavior becomes governed by the defense mechanism, then
it can lead to abnormal behavior.
The defense mechanisms described by Freud are as follows:
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1. Repression—not allowing painful or dangerous thoughts to become
conscious (e.g., a person who witnessed a murder may completely repress
the memory and have no recollections of the incident)
2. Denial—refusing to acknowledge the existence of an external source of
anxiety (e.g., a parent insisting her fatally ill child will be all right)
3. Projection—attributing one’s own unacceptable impulses, motives, or
desires to others (e.g., a husband who is sexually attracted to a friend
accuses his wife of being unfaithful to him)
4. Rationalization—creating socially acceptable rea-sons for an action that
actually reflects unattractive motives (e.g., a student who did not get his job
of choice rationalizes that he did not like the city the other job was in
anyway)
5. Reaction formation—adopting a behavior that is the exact opposite of the
impulses one is afraid to acknowledge (e.g., a man who is afraid of being
too feminine joins several ‘‘tough, manly’’ sports teams, such as football
and hockey to prove his masculinity)
6. Displacement—displacing hostility away from a dangerous object and onto
a safer substitute (e.g., a wife is angry at her boss but cannot safely express
her anger to him and so she goes home and yells at her family)
7. Regression—retreating from an upsetting conflict to an earlier
developmental stage to prevent anxiety and assuage current needs (e.g., a
previously toilet- trained preschooler begins to have accidents after his new
baby brother is born)
8. Identification—adopting the ideas and values of someone in a superior
position (e.g., prisoners adopting the attitudes of their captors)
9. Sublimation—expressing sexual or aggressive energy in ways that are
acceptable to society (e.g., a man with strong aggressive impulses plays
professional football)
10. Intellectualization—adopting cold, clinical, distanced perspectives on
issues that in reality create strong, unpleasant feelings (e.g., a husband going
through a divorce is extremely emotionally distressed and daily discusses
the technical logistics of court proceedings with colleagues, with an
emotional detachment)
COPING STRATIGIES
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Coping includes all the possible responses to stressors in one’s environment. As a stressor
makes demands on an organism and initiates a stress response, the organism initiates
behaviors and thoughts which attempt to remove the stressor or to reinterpret its effects.
Coping often reduces the negative effects of the stressor, but sometimes coping creates new
and different problems. Coping strategies may emphasize the physical, social, or
psychological components of stress and the
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stress response. Coping strategies may attempt to eliminate or moderate the initial source of
the stress reaction (stimulus-directed coping), reduce the magnitude of the stress response
(response-directed coping), or change the way the stressor is perceived (cognitive coping).
Several stress-management techniques are directed toward reducing the influence of the
stressor itself. Improving problem-solving skills and knowledge about the problem increases
understanding and improves access to solutions. Time-management techniques can also reduce
stress by eliminating its source. Solving the most important problems first and improving the
quality of time spent on tasks reduces stress by eliminating the problem sooner. Changes in the
work environment can also reduce stress. Eliminating sources of stress in the workplace,
improving communication between workers and management, allowing workers to have
control over their jobs, using workers who are capable of doing the job, and rewarding workers
for good job performance can all reduce job-related stress.
Sometimes stress reduction involves changing jobs or eliminating the stress- producing
activity or relationship. Even with good stimulus-directed coping skills, it is not always
possible to eliminate the stressor itself. Many of the techniques of stress management are
directed toward reducing the stress response. The pattern of physiological arousal in a stress
response feels uncomfortable to most people; moreover, the related physiological changes
can increase one’s chances of illness or injury. The stress response is often treated as a
physical illness. Prescribed medication, such as tranquilizing drugs, may be provided to
reduce the unpleasant symptoms of the stress response such as anxiety, muscle tension, and
pain. Sometimes people medicate themselves, choosing alcohol or other nonprescription
drugs to reduce the symptoms of the stress response. All these medications do reduce the
effects of stress over the short term, but they also tend to create
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problems of their own. Medications can be habit forming and may continue to be used after
the stressful situation is gone. They may promote an artificial contentment and limit the
possibility of finding a permanent solution to the problem creating the stress. Tranquilizing
medications also tend to produce sleepiness, slowed reaction time, poor coordination, and
inhibitions in judgment.
These effects may hinder work productivity and safety. One physical approach to coping with
stress involves increasing the level of exercise. Regular strenuous exercise has a wide range of
benefits. It reduces tension in muscles, improves cardiac fitness, and improves the functioning
of the central nervous system. Muscles, particularly those in the neck and back, tend to react to
stress by becoming tight and rigid. This tightness then results in symptoms such as tension
headaches and backaches. Exercise promotes cardiac fitness, which improves the strength of
the heart and circulatory system and improves the resistance of the circulatory system to the
demands of stressful events. Exercise also improves the ability to think clearly, as it improves
circulation to the brain.
The importance of social factors in coping with stress was first proposed by John Cassel in
1974. Friends and family can make it possible to cope more effectively with stressful
situations. The freedom to express feelings and to gain insight from hearing the problem
described from another perspective can improve understanding of the stressor. The
opportunity to gain useful information about problem solving and access to economic or
material support makes coping with stressful events and circumstances possible.
Psychological coping strategies include techniques that change the way one thinks about the
stressor or the stress response. Much of the stress response results from one’s emotional
reaction to events. Cognitive reappraisal and restructuring can
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help one to think of a stressful event as a positive challenge and can eliminate much of the
arousal associated with stress. Imaging techniques are used to help the stressed individual see
herself or himself as healthy and as successfully coping with the sources of stress.
Coping can also involve denying that the stressor exists or that it is a problem. Becoming
emotionally detached can reduce the harmful effects of stress as physical arousal levels are
prevented from increasing in the stressful situation, but this denial can also be harmful if it
lasts for a long period of time or if it replaces an attempt to deal with the stressor. Denial of
stressful events is seen by many theorists as a major contributor to mental and physical
illness.
When considering the many possible approaches to coping with stress, it is important to
remember that different individuals and different stressors can make one strategy more
effective than another. Each individual will need to explore the options to find the most
effective coping strategy.
Just as the stress response involves a general reaction of the body to a demand, many of the
techniques used to cope with stress have an element in common. This common thread can be
described as control. If one feels that one is in control of a situation, one is less likely to
interpret it as threatening, and therefore stressful. If one learns to control one’s thoughts about
a stressor or to control one’s physical reactions to the stressor, one is more likely to be
successful at coping with stress.
Research on the effects of control has included animals and humans and has focused on many
different types of control. For example, from what is known about stress, job stress should be
related to physical illness, but this is not always found in the research literature. What has
been found is that people with both high
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job demand and a lack of control over their work are more likely to have coronary heart
disease.
Some of the earliest research on stress placed monkeys in a problem-solving situation. One
monkey could prevent electric shocks from occurring by learning to solve a problem. A
second monkey received a shock every time the first monkey did, but could do nothing to
prevent the shocks from occurring. At autopsy, the second monkey, with less control over the
situation, had more indications of stress- related physiological arousal.
One approach to stress that can give people a feeling of control is to teach them relaxation
techniques; these range from meditation to progressive relaxation to biofeedback techniques.
One benefit of such techniques is that they reduce or eliminate the temptation to use
medication to reduce stress responses. Progressive relaxation, one form of this training,
involves tensing specific muscle groups for a brief period and then allowing that group of
muscles to relax before continuing to the next. The tension both focuses attention on the
muscle to be relaxed and fatigues the tensed muscle, making relaxation easier.
Biofeedback has been used successfully to reduce the physical tensions and resulting pain
often associated with the stress response. Biofeedback uses electronic instruments to make
physical changes more observable. Instrumentation which measures physical changes in skin
temperature, sweating, muscle tension, and blood pressure has been used to make people more
aware of their bodies’ functions. With training, the individual can learn to reduce the muscle
tension which has been producing headaches or to regulate problems causing gastrointestinal
activity.
There have been two major approaches to the problem of coping with stress. One has involved
the attempt to describe and define stress responses in the hope of determining the causes and
controlling factors. The second approach focuses on the control the symptoms presented to
doctors and therapists. Defining stress and the stress response includes not only Selye’s
physiological definition of the stress response but also cognitive factors such as locus of
control. Julian Rotter proposed that behavior in and understandings of situations are
determined by the perceived source of events. A person with an internal locus of control will
feel that he or she is the determining factor in success or failure in life. The person with an
external locus of control is more likely to place the responsibility on fate or luck and to feel
that his or her action will not make much difference. These two interpretations of events have a
number of implications for coping, as the coping strategy chosen may lead to a more effective
or less effective solution to the stressful situation.
An external locus of control may lead to less active participation in coping and to more
negative outcomes. An internal locus of control has been related to successful therapy and
lower levels of depression, suggesting the use of effective coping strategies. Albert Bandura
proposed a similar concept: self-efficacy. Individuals who are high in self-efficacy believe that
they can change things by taking action. They are more likely to choose coping strategies
which attempt to remove or reduce the influence of the stressor rather than withdrawing or
denying that the stressor exists and thereby failing to remove its influence.
STRESS MANAGEMNT
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42
42
In the past, the term “stress” designated both a stimulus (a force or pressure) and a response
(adversity, affliction). More recently, it has usually been used to denote a set of changes that
people undergo in situations that they appraise as threatening to
their well-being. These changes involve physiological arousal, subjective feelings of
discomfort, and overt behaviors. The terms “anxiety” and “fear” are also used to indicate
what people experience when they appraise circumstances as straining their ability to cope
with them. Physiologist Walter B. Cannon was among the first scientists to describe how
people respond to stressful circumstances. When faced with a threat, one’s body mobilizes
for “fight or flight.” One’s heart rate increases, one begins to perspire, one’s muscles tense,
and one undergoes other physiological changes to prepare for action—either to confront the
stressor or to flee the situation.
Stress Management Techniques
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43
43
Stress is a silent killer. It is estimated to play a significant role in physical illness and disease.
Hypertension, heart disease, ulcers, diabetes and even cancer are linked to stress. Due to
lifestyle changes stress is on the increase. Therefore, schools, other institutions, offices and
communities are concerned about knowing techniques to manage stress. Some of these
techniques are:
Relaxation Techniques: It is an active skill that reduces symptoms of stress and decreases
the incidence of illnesses such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Usually relaxation
starts from the lower part of the body and progresses up to the facial muscles in such a way
that the whole body is relaxed. Deep breathing is used along with muscle relaxation to calm
the mind and relax the body. \
Meditation Procedures: The yogic method of meditation consists of a sequence of learned
techniques for refocusing of attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness. It
involves such a thorough concentration that the meditator becomes unaware of any outside
stimulation and reaches a different state of consciousness.
Page
44
44
Biofeedback: It is a procedure to monitor and reduce the physiological aspects of stress by
providing feedback about current physiological activity and is often accompanied by
relaxation training. Biofeedback training involves three stages: developing an awareness of
the particular physiological response, e.g. heart rate, learning ways of controlling that
physiological response in quiet conditions; and transferring that control into the conditions of
everyday life.
Creative Visualization: It is an effective technique for dealing with stress. Creative
visualization is a subjective experience that uses imagery and imagination. Before
visualizing one must set oneself a realistic goal, as it helps build confidence. It is easier to
visualize if one’s mind is quiet, body relaxed and eyes are closed. This reduces the risk of
interference from unbidden thoughts and provides the creative energy needed for turning an
imagined scene into reality.
Cognitive Behavioral Techniques: These techniques aim to inoculate people against stress.
Stress inoculation training is one effective method developed by Meichenbaum. The essence
of this approach is to replace negative and irrational thoughts with positive and rational ones.
There are three main phases in this : assessment, stress reduction techniques, and application
and follow-through. Assessment involves discussing the nature of the problem and seeing it
from the viewpoint of the person/client. Stress reduction involves learning the techniques of
reducing stress such as relaxation and self-instruction.
Exercise: Exercise can provide an active outlet for the physiological arousal experienced in
response to stress. Regular exercise improves the efficiency of the heart, enhances the
function of the lungs, maintains good circulation, lowers blood pressure, reduces fat in the
blood and improves the body’s immune system. Swimming, walking, running, cycling,
skipping, etc. help to reduce stress. One
must practice these exercises at least four times a week for 30 minutes at a time. Each session
must have a warm-up, exercise and cool down phases.
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Five strategies for managing conflict have been used throughout numerous research studies on
conflict: avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising, and collaborating. These
strategies are coordinated on a two-dimensional grid with the axes labeled either ‘‘concern for
own interests’’ and ‘‘concern for other’s interests’’ or ‘‘assertiveness’’ and ‘‘cooperativeness’’
(Fig. 1). Thus, avoiding would represent either a low concern for self-interests and for other’s
interests or low levels of assertiveness and cooperation, respectively. The first conflict
management strategy is accommodating, also referred to as obliging. Figure 1 shows that this
strategy is low in assertiveness and high in cooperativeness—a lose–win strategy. In this case,
one party chooses to allow the other party to satisfy its interests completely.
High
Competing
Collaborating
Compromising
Avoiding
Accommodating
Low
High
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45
45
One party may choose accommodation for several reasons. For example, the party may be
unwilling to compete, may want to minimize losses, may consider the other party’s interests
as more valuable, or may seek to prevent damage to the
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46
46
relationship between the par-ties. Accommodating can be an active strategy in which one
party helps to satisfy the other party’s interests. It can also be a passive strategy in which
inaction results in the satisfaction of the other party’s interests.
The second conflict management strategy is competing or dominating. This is the opposing
strategy to accommodating and is classified as high in assertiveness and low in
cooperativeness—a win–lose strategy. Competing is an active strategy in which one party
attempts to satisfy its own interests, usually by preventing the other party from satisfying its
interests when both parties’ interests are perceived as mutually exclusive. Competing may be
more effective when quick and decisive action is vital, unpopular but important decisions
must be made, an organization’s welfare is at stake and the right course of action is known,
and/or the other party takes advantage of noncompetitive behavior.
Compromising or sharing is the third strategy shown in Fig. 1. In this case, one party is
moderately assertive and cooperative. In contrast to either party winning or losing,
compromising seeks a ‘‘middle ground’’ in which each party wins in part and loses in part.
Compromising may be perceived as a weaker form of collaborating, but the use of
compromising assumes a fixed amount of resolution that must be distributed, whereas
collaborating seeks to determine both the size of the resolution and how it is to be divided.
Compromising may be effective when opponents with equal power are com-mitted to
mutually exclusive goals, the issue is complex and at least a temporary settlement must be
reached, interests cannot be fully sacrificed but there is no time for integration, collaborating
and competing fail, and/or goals are important enough to fight for but not so important that
concessions cannot be made.
The fourth conflict management strategy is avoiding. This strategy reflects low assertiveness
and low cooperation—a lose–lose situation. With this strategy, one party chooses not to
engage the other party in resolving the conflict in such a way that neither party is able to
satisfy its interests. Avoiding may be a good strategy when an issue is trivial, there is no
chance to satisfy a party’s own interests, the other party is enraged and irrational, and/ or
others can resolve the conflict more easily.
The last of the conflict management strategies is collaborating or integrating. As the term
implies, this strategy has an integrative focus. Parties using the collaborating strategy are
classified as being both highly assertive and cooperative—a win–win attitude.
In this case, the two parties attempt to work with each other to develop a resolution that will
completely satisfy the interests of both parties. Although much of the research on conflict
has proposed that collaborating is always the ideal conflict management strategy, others
have suggested that there may be situations in which other strategies are more effective.
Collaborating may be a more effective strategy when each party’s interests are too important
to be compromised, full commitment to the resolution by both parties is desired, and/or
there is sufficient time to resolve the conflict by integrating both parties’ interests.
Research on conflict management strategies has comprised a large portion of the total
research on interpersonal conflict. The five strategies outlined here have become somewhat
canonical in conflict research. Much research has validated the existence of these strategies
and shown the advantage of a two-dimensional model over a one-dimensional (two-strategy)
model, but there have been no remarkable attempts to improve on or add to this model of
conflict management. Although
there is much room for more research to be done in this area of interpersonal conflict, it has
not suffered from a lack of attention as other areas of conflict have.
1
M.A. EDUCATION
EDU-E 207: ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
UNIT 1: ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN
INDIA
PREPARED BY: TARIQ AH. WANI
1. ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Education is the key to overall human development and improving the educational
scenario for the country to inch towards the attainment of universal elementary
education.Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of
compulsory education, coming between early childhood and secondary education.
Primary education provides students with a basic understanding of various subjects as
well as the skills they will use throughout their lives.According to United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) providing children with this education has many positive
effects,including: decreasing poverty, decreasing child mortality rates, encouraging
gender equality and increasing environmental concern.
In India, elementary schools provide education from class 1st to 8th. The children in
these classes are generally aged between 6 to 11 years.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the apex body
for school education in India. The NCERT provides support and technical assistance to a
number of schools in India and oversees many aspects of enforcement of education
policies. In India, the various bodies governing school education system are:
1) The state govt. Boards, in which the majority of Indian children are enrolled.
2) The central board of secondary education (CBSE) board.
3) The council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) board.
4) The National Institute of Open Schooling.
5) International schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate programme
and the Cambridge International Examinations.
6) Islamic madrasah schools, whose boards are controlled by local state
governments or autonomous or affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband.
7) Autonomous schools like Woodstock, Auroville, Patha Bhavan and Ananda
Margagurukulla.
2
Education is a critical input in humanresource development and is essential for
thecountry’s economic growth. Though the majorindicators of socio-economic
development viz., thegrowth rate of the economy, birth rate, death rate, infant mortality
rate (IMR) and literacy rate, are allinterconnected, the literacy rate has been the
majordeterminant of the rise or fall in the other indicators.There is enough evidence
even in India to show that a high literacy rate, especially in the case ofwomen, correlates
with low birth rate, low IMR and increase in the rate of life expectancy. Therecognition
of this fact has created awareness on the need to focus upon literacy and
elementaryeducation programmes, not simply as a matter of social justice but more to
foster economic growth, social well-being and social stability.
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE OUTLINE
1. To understand the context of elementary education.
2. To understand the concept, objectives, rationale, challenges and extent of
success of universal elementary education (UEE)
3. To gain insight into the need and objectives of elementary education.
4. To understand the historical perspective of elementary education in India.
5. To understand the programmes and schemes to achieve the targets of UEE.
6. To gain insight into the literacy status growth in India since independence.
7. To understand the important strategies with respect to qualitative improvement
in elementary education.
8. To develop understanding of status of elementary teachers, the problems and
issues related to their professional growth.
3. ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA- HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
India has a long tradition of education both through formally organised institutions
(such as Institutes of Higher Learning at Takshashila and Nalanda) as well as less formal
ones like hermitages or 'ashrams' where pupils were under the complete custodial care
of their Gurus. A mass education movement, however, began during the age of Jainism
and Buddhism when a widespread attempt was made to use the people's spoken
language to impart education related to the needs of people.
In the medieval times, the system of education developed two main types of schools : (a)
'Pathshalas' and 'Madrassahs' whose cur- riculum included traditional classical learning
and religion; and (b) informal village-schools which imparted instruction in the three
R's to any child desirous of such learning.
By the end of the 18th century, India had a fairly wide- spread village-based indigenous
system of child education comparable to the primary stage. Extensive surveys
conducted by Thomas Munroe in Madras (1822-24), Mount-Stuart Elphinstone in
Bombay (1823-25), William Adam in Bengal and Bihar (1835-38) and in Punjab (1849) ,
provide ample information on this popular system of indigenous education. These
schools were independent. They neither received any funds from the state nor were
they under state-control. A school learning centre, generally functioned in the teacher's
house / local temple / under a tree, and so on. Hours of instruction and working days
were adjusted to the local requirements. There was a 'monitorial' system in which the
advanced pupils guided the new entrants and slow learners. Peer-group learning,
3
multipoint entry, need-based studies and adaptability to the local environment were the
chief merits of these indigenous schools in which, around 1854, 9 lakh pupils were
receiving education.
The process of decay of the indigenous system of education in India started with the
advent of the British rule when a system modelled on English schools was established
mainly in urban centres. The urban upper classes took advantage of this system for
capturing government jobs. The bulk of the Indian. population living in the rural areas
remained outside the system.
In England, compulsory education Acts had been passed in 1870, 76 and 80. As a result
an emphatic demand for 4 years of compulsory primary education was made by
Dadabhai Naoroji & Jyotiba Phule from Bombay Presidency in their evidence before the
Indian Education Commission (Hunter Commission, 1882) which accepted the logic and
stated that "while every branch of education can justly claim the fostering care of the
state, it is desirable, in the present circum- stances to declare the elementary, education
of the masses, its provision, extension and improvement, to be that part of the
educational system to which the strenuous efforts of the State should now be directed."
The Commission also recommended the transfer of the control and administration of
elementary education to local bodies, as done, in England. This was acted upon. State
finances for making primary education universal could be reduced or even ultimately
withdrawn, under this doctrine of local self-government. But local bodies had little resources to take up this burden.
UEE in the 20th Century
In 1910, Gopal Krishna Gokhale moved a resolution in the Imperial Legislative Council
that "a beginning be made in the direction of making elementary education free and
compulsory throughout the country", which was opposed by the official side, A Bill to
that effect moved by Gokhale on March 16, 1911 was thrown out.
In 1917, Vithalbhai Patel was responsible for getting the first Law on Compulsory
Primary Education in India passed by the Bombay Legislative Council. By 1930, every
Province of British India had a law on primary education. But among the princely States,
Baroda was the first to pass an Act for compulsory education of boys from age 7 - 12
and girls from age 7 - 10, in 1906.
After the passing of Government of India Act, 1919, the control of elementary education
was transferred to Indian ministers. This ushered in an era of rapid expansion of
elementary education. Which, however, created new problems,. The Hartog Committee
(an auxiliary Committee of Simon Commission, 1929) observed that "through- out the
whole educational system, there is wastage and ineffectiveness.
The introduction of Provincial Autonomy in 1937 through the Government of India Act,
1935, gave more powers to Indian Ministers to act independently. Though detailed
plans for large scale expansion of elementary education were developed, the
implementation was restricted because of the outbreak of the Second World War. For
overcoming the constraints of funds at the disposal of Congress Ministers, Mahatma
Gandhi suggested that the plans of mass education need not be held up and that
universal, compulsory and free primary education of seven years' duration could be
given to every child if the process of schooling could be made self-supporting. With this
object in view, Gandhiji formulated the scheme of 'Basic Education' which was discussed and endorsed by the first Conference of National Education held at Wardha in
October, 1937 which resolved that free and compulsory education be provided for
seven years on a nation-wide scale, the medium of instruction be the mother-tongue,
and the process of education during this period should centre around some form of
4
manual productive work. This scheme was adopted in several provinces where the
Congress was in power.
Consequent upon the continued efforts of the leaders, the provision, of free and
compulsory education to all children till they reached the age of 14 years, was nationally
accepted during the early 1940s as the responsibility of the State. The Post-War Plan of
Educational Development in India (1944) popularly known as the Sargent Plan,
recommended the provision of free and compulsory education to all children in the age
group of 6 - 14 years in a phased programme spread over a period of 40 years.
However, the national leadership was determined to telescope the process and a
Committee under the Chairmanship of B.G. Kher recommended that the goal should be
achieved by 1960. It was this recommendation that formed the basis of Article 45 of the
Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution enjoining that the "State shall endeavour
to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution for
free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years.
The goal of providing free and compulsory education to all children upto the age of 14
years has, however, not yet been achieved in spite of considerable investment of
resources in successive Five Year Plans. An ever-increasing population, financial and
organisa- tional constraints, socio-economic problems and finally, lack of national will
appear to have been the main hurdles in achieving the goal.
Consequent on the recommendations of the Education Commission a Resolution on
National Policy on Education was formally issued in 1968. It urged strenous efforts for
the provision of free and compulsory education at the elementary stage, with emphasis
on equalisation of educational opportunities, correction of regional imbalances in
provision of access and improvement of educational facilities, especially in the rural and
backward areas. It also highlighted the need to emphasize the education of girls and
spread of education among the backward classes and especially among the tribal
people.
In order to reach the children from the deprived groups whose circumstances
prevented them from availing of full-time primary schooling facilities, the Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE) recommended, in 1972, the alternative channel of
part-time education. Accordingly, part-time education was emphasised for the first time
in the Draft Fifth Plan (1974--79). The Fifth Plan also treated Elementary Education as
part of the Minimum Needs Programme for which State Plan outlays were earmarked.
The Working Group on Universalization of Elementary Education set up by the Ministry
of Education, Government of India in 1978 recommended a new motto : "Every child
shall continue to learn in the age group 6 - 14, on a full-time basis if possible, and on a
part-time basis if necessary It was stressed that in such an arrangement, the basic
minimum knowledge of literacy, numeracy and inculcation of the social and civic
responsibilities should not be sacrificed. The content of education should be meaningful
and relevant to the socio- economic milieu and needs but should not thwart the scope of
vertical mobility. This led to the initiation of a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for part-time
non-formal education for backward States during the sixth Five Year Plan.
National Policy on Education (1986)
In spite of the massive expansion of educational facilities and efforts made for
qualitative improvement of elementary education, the problems of access, participation
and quality in respect of elementary education continued to persist. This, together with
a variety of new challenges and social needs made it imperative to evolve a new design
for education and new policy directions in the context of contemporary realities and
future concerns. Therefore, a new National Policy on Education was formulated by the
5
Government of India in May 1986. It was followed by the preparation of a "Programme
of Action" in August, 1986 for the time bound implementation of the various
recommendations.
The NPE-1986 resolved that all children who attain the age of about 11 years by 1990
will. have had five years of schooling or its equivalent through the non-formal stream,
and "likewise by 1995 all children will be provided free and compulsory education upto
14 years of age. "For promoting equality, the NPE stressed equal opportunity to all not
only in access, but also in the conditions for success". To facilitate universal elementary
education, the NPE envisaged" a large and systematic programme of non-formal
education for school dropouts, for children from habitations without schools and
working children and girls who cannot attend the whole-day schools.
The policy also recommended the laying down of 'Minimum Levels of Learning' for each
stage of education, provision of essential facilities in primary schools through the
scheme of Operation Blackboard (OB), adoption of child centred activity-based
approach, and establishment of District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) for
the pre-service and in-service education of teachers for elementary schools and District
Resource Units for the personnel working in non-formal and adult education
programmes.
The NPE (1986) was reviewed by the Ramamurthy Committee in 1990. Keeping in view
its recommendations as well as various developments, the CABE Committee on Policy
(1991) suggested certain modifications. The NPE (1986) with modification, was
adopted in May 1992 and led to the revised POA (1992) in August, 1992. (The detailed
Action programme of POA so far as it relates to Elementary Education has been
summarised in Annexure III). ‘Needs Improvement’: Despite Progress, India’s Primary
Education System Has a Ways to Go.
A strong education system is the cornerstone of any country’s growth and prosperity.
Over the last decade, India has made great strides in strengthening its primary
education system. The District Information System for Education (DISE) reported in
2012 that 95% of India’s rural populations are within one kilometre of primary schools.
The 2011 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), which tracks trends in rural
education, indicated that enrolment rates among primary-school-aged children were
about 93%, with little difference by gender.
However, behind the veil of such promising statistics, the learning outcomes of India’s
children show little progress. The country ranked 63 out of 64 in the latest Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) study, with some of its best schools ranked
about average among those surveyed. The 2011 ASER stated that only 48.2% of
students in the fifth grade can read at the second grade level. The number of students
completing their primary education with inadequate numeracy and literacy skills is
startling. To see this manifest in an economic sense, one may attribute India’s
productivity growth — lagging behind that of East Asian economies — to a lack of
progress in the foundational elements of countrywide, high quality education.
India’s private-schooled, English-speaking urban elite may attract global attention, but
they are in the minority. The vast majority of Indian children attend government-run
primary schools in rural areas. In 2008-2009, rural India accounted for more than 88%
of India’s primary-school students, of whom over 87% were enrolled in governmentrun schools. This is where we see some of the nation’s toughest challenges.
Primary Education in India: Aims and Objectives
6
The aim of education is to bring desirable changes in the behaviours of the learner. It
helps in the all round development of a child’s personality and inclusion of healthy
attitudes and good values. Since education changes according to the changing needs of
the society, the aims of education also varies from time to time in the same society. The
aims and objectives are not uniform for all stages of education. There are differences in
aims and objectives of primary, secondary and higher education due to variance of age
and maturity experiences, physical, mental and emotional growth of the child.
In our country, education has been a state subject but now it has been put on the
concurrent list i.e. shared by the central government. This has been done with a view to
achieve the target of free and compulsory primary education. Because it is clearly
directed in Article 45 of the Indian constitution that the provision of Universal, Free and
Compulsory Education becomes the joint responsibility of the centre and the state.
Primary education is the stage where education touches at every point, Thus, it has to
do more with national ideology and character than any other single activity. The
objectives of primary education should be visualized against the background of its
ultimate ends and purpose.
The primary stage is very crucial stage in the life of the child. So, The objectives of
primary education are different from those in the middle stage of education. At the
primary level the child’s curiosity, creativity and activity in general should not be
restricted by a rigid and unattractive methods of teaching and learning.
Objectives of primary education
Literacy: The child should learn the first language the mother-tongue to a level where
he can communicate his ideas easily.
Numeracy: The child should develop ability in four fundamental numerical operations
and to be able to apply these to solve problems in his daily life.
Technocracy: The child should learn the method of inquiry in science and should begin
to appreciate science and technology.
Nationalism: The child should develop a respect for national symbols like the flag and
the anthem and should know about learn to dislike to casteism, untouchability and
communalism.
Human dignity: The child should develop healthy attitudes towards human labour and
dignity.
Sanitary habits: The child should develop habits of cleanliness and healthful living and
an understanding of the proper sanitation and hygiene of the neighbourhood.
Aesthetic Sense: The child should acquire a taste for the good and beautiful and should
take care of its surroundings.
Cooperative Spirit: The child should learn to cooperate with others and appreciate the
usefulness of working together for the common good. Besides these objectives, other
desirable qualities are development of character and personality through initiative,
leadership, kindness, honesty etc. These should be developed during the primary school
stage.
The NCERT (1977) has laid down the following objectives of
elementary Education:
 To acquire the tools for formal learning namely literacy, numeracy and manual
skills.
 To acquire the habits of cooperative behaviours within the family, school and
community.
 To develop social responsibility by inculcating habits.
7
 To appreciate the culture and life styles of persons of other religions, regions and
countries.
The National policy on Education has also given stress on primary Education
mainly on two aspects:
a) Universal enrolment and universal retention of children up to 14 years of age.
b) A substantial improvement in the quality of education.
It has laid down that primary education cannot be accepted as complete unless children
acquire minimum levels of learning (M.L.L).
There is an urgent need to pay due attention to the constitutional directives with regard
to the development and improvement of primary education. It is the duty of everybody
to extend full cooperation in achieving the objectives of free and compulsory primary
education in our country. Then only the base of democracy would be strengthened.
4. PURPOSE OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION



To give the student a basic foundation for learning the core subjects.
To help the students learn about their environment and society.
To help foster a student’s interest in duty and responsibilities within one’s own
community through various activities.
REVIEW OF PAST PERFORMANCE
Article 45 of the Constitution stipulates thatthe ‘State shall endeavour to provide,
within a periodof 10 years from the commencement of theConstitution, for free and
compulsory education forall children until they complete the age of 14 years.’However,
the task of providing basic education forall, with concrete plans of action, gained
greatermomentum only after the National Policy ofEducation (NPE), 1986 (revised in
1992). With the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) adopted in Jomtein in
1990, basic education in allits facets (Early Child Care Education (ECCE),elementary
education, education for adolescents,adult education, gender equality and
qualityimprovement) has been the focus of internationalattention. These international
developments, together with several positive developments withinthe country, brought
the need for recognising basiceducation as a fundamental right of every citizen tothe
centre stage. With the launching of the NationalPolicy on Education in 1986, the
Governmentinitiated a move to start a number of missions. TheNational Literacy
Mission, started in 1988, was one such mission. It had the following aims:
 Increase motivation, which is the centralissue in literacy;
 secure participation by creating a positiveenvironment and through mass
mobilisation;
 increase the involvement of voluntaryagencies and enhance the quality
ofexisting programmes with improvedtechno-pedagogic inputs;
 launch a mass movement for expandingthe Mass Functional Literacy
Programme(MFLP),
hitherto
confined
to
university,college
and
secondary/higher secondary schools, to include different sections ofsociety;
 ensure the availability of quality learningmaterials, aligned to mission goals;
 universalise the outreach of literacylearning facilities to all parts of the
countryby 1990; and
8

Establish a Mission Management Systemfor monitoring and for corrective
action.The central government, in partnershipwith state governments, has
initiated a number of programmes to fulfil the Constitutional obligation and
national aspirations.
GROWTH OF LITERACY
 Literacy in India is a key for socio economic progress and the Indian literacy rate
has grown to 74.4% (census 2011) from 12% at the end of British rule in
1947.Although this was a greater than six fold improvement, the level is well
below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and of all the nations, India
currently has the largest illiterate population.
 Despite government programmes, India’sliteracy rate increased only sluggishly
and a 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve
universal literacy at the current rate of progress. The 2011 census, however,
indicated a 2001-2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is slower than the
growth seen during the previous decade.
 There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy
rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women.
The low female literacy rate has had a dramatically negative impact on family
planning and population stabilisation effects in India. Studies have indicated that
female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married
Indian couples, even when omen do not otherwise have economic independence.
The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rate
11.8% was substantially faster than in male literacy rate 6.9% in the 2001-2011
decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.
 The current literacy rate of India is 74.04%.
 In 1911, the literacy rate in India was only 6% and was 8% in1921.The female
literacy rate was terribly low at only 2% in 1921.
Enrolment Ratio
The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at theprimary and upper primary levels
improvedsignificantly between 1950-51 and 1999-2000, from 42.6 to 94.9 in the case of
primary levels and from12.7 to 58.79 for upper primary levels. The gap\ between boys
and girls in GER at the primary andupper primary levels has declined significantly
from28.5 and 29.6 percentage points respectively in1990-91 to 19 and18 in 1999-2000.
The Net Enrolment Ratios (NER),obtained by subtracting the number of underageand
overage children enrolled in grades I-V andVI-VIII, were significantly lower than GER in
the caseof both boys and girls. The NER for boys and girlswas 78 per cent and 64 per
cent respectively at theprimary level in 1997-98. The overall NER at theprimary level
was 71 per cent, which suggests that at least 29 per cent of children in the 6-10 age
groupcontinued to remain out of school in 1997-98.Educationally backward states, and,
within them,backward districts, have lower NER than the all-India average.
India has been made phenomenal progress since independence in the field of
elementary education. Following the millennium development framework, by the
measures of the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER), India has crossed the cut-off target of 95%,
regarded as the marker value for achieving 2015 target of universal primary education
for all children aged 6-11 years in 2007-2008. The present education in India is guided
by different objectives and goals but is based around the policies and programmes of
yesteryears. More recently, two prominent policies of the government-Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA) in 2001 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
9
(RTE) Act, 2009 have seen education priorities rise amongst households and catalysed
improvements in educational performance.
Educational facilities
The availability of schooling facilities ismeasured by a set of indicators concerning
access.
Existing norms stipulate that a habitation (clusterof households) is entitled to have a
primary school,if it has a population of 300 and more and has noschool within a
distance of one km. Upper primaryschools are to be located at a distance of three
kmfrom habitations with a population of 500 and more.These norms are often relaxed
in case of hilly andtribal areas, difficult terrains and border districts. During the period
1950-51 to 1999-2000, the number of primary schools has increased bymore than three
times from 2,10,000 in 1950-51 to6,42,000 in 1999-2000 whereas the number ofupper
primary schools increased by about 15 timesfrom 13,600 in 1950-51 to 1,98,000 in
1999-2000.The ratio of upper primary school to primary schoolscame down from 1:15
in 1950-51 to 1:3.2 in 1999-2000.
Enrolment Trends
Enrolment at the primary level (grades Ito V) increased from 19.16 million in 1950-51
to113.61 million in 1999-2000. In comparison, thegrowth in enrolment at the upper
primary level(grades VI to VIII) has been much more impressive,although it is still not
adequate to attain theConstitutional goal of universal enrolment of childrenup to the
age of 14. From 3.12 million in 1950-51,enrolment at the upper primary level increased
to42.06 million in 1999-2000, indicating a 13.5 timesincrease as against six times at the
primary level. The percentage share of girls in total enrolment,both at the primary and
upper primary levels, hasincreased consistently between 1950-51 (28.1 percent) and
1999-2000 (43.6 per cent). However, girls’share in total enrolment at the upper
primary level (40.4 per cent) continues to be lower than their shareat the primary level
in 1999-2000.
The total number of teachers increasedfrom 6,24,000 in 1950-51 to 3.2 million in 19992000, an increase of more than five times. Thenumber of female teachers increased
from 95,000in 1950-51 to 11,52,000 in 1999-2000, an increase of more than 12 times.
The percentage of femaleteachers to total teachers, which was 15.2 per centat the
primary level and 15.1 per cent at upperprimary level in 1950-51 has increased to 35.6
and 36.1 per cent respectively in 1999-2000. However,the teacher-pupil ratio (TPR) has
worsened overthe years. During 1950-51, the TPR in primaryschools was 1:24, and 1:20
in middle schools. In1999-2000, this ratio has increased to 1:43 inprimary schools and
1:38 in upper primary schools.Despite an increase in the number ofhabitations and
population, the coverage of bothprimary and upper primary schools, in line with
thenorms, has increased significantly. Of the onemillion rural habitations in the country,
5,28,000 hada primary school within the habitation itself in 1993-94. About 83.4 per
cent habitations had a primaryschool/section within a one km distance. Presently,
about 1,00,000 habitations remain unserved as per prescribed norms. The alternative
and innovativeprogramme envisages opening of non-formal education (NFE) centres in
habitations where opening of a full-fledged school is not economicallyfeasible or
academically viable. Over a period oftime, infrastructure and other facilities in schools
have also improved significantly although a large number of primary and upper primary
schools continue to suffer from deficiencies, making it difficult for them to function
smoothly and preventing them from providing optimal conditions for teaching and
learning.
10
5. REVIEW OF NINTH PLAN
The Ninth Plan regarded education as the most crucial investment in human
development. The Prime Minister’s Special Action Plan gave emphasis to the total
eradication of illiteracy, equal access to and opportunity of education up to the schoolleaving stage, improvement in the quality of education at all levels, and the need for
expansion and improvement of infrastructural facilities. The thrust areas in the Ninth
Plan included UEE, full adult literacy, raising the quality of education at all levels and
improving learner achievement. The Plan also emphasised improvement of the
educational status of disadvantaged groups, including scheduled castes (SC) and
scheduled tribes (ST), girls and disabled children and the removal of regional
disparities. In addition, it stressed the vocationalisation of education, revision of the
curriculum to meet emerging challenges in information technology and support for
development of centres of excellence at the tertiary level.
Elementary education was given the highest priority in sub-sectoral allocations within
the education sector, indicating a strong reiteration of the country’s resolve to achieve
the goal of EFA during the Plan period. The goal was sought to be achieved through
several measures, which included:
 Amendment of the Constitution to make elementary education a fundamental
right;
 Decentralisation of planning, supervision and management of education through
local bodies at the district, block and village levels;
 Social mobilisation of local communities for adult literacy through campaigns
and for promotion of primary education;
 Convergence of different schemes for UEE;
 Stronger partnership with non-government organisations (NGOs) and voluntary
organisations;
 Advocacy and media campaign for UEE;
 Provision of opportunities for non-formal and alternative education for out-ofschool children in the most backward areas and for unreached segments of the
population in response to local needs and demands; and
 Universal participation and retention rather than universal enrolment. The goal
of UEE was enlarged to include provision of education of a satisfactory quality to
all children.
6. PROGRAMMES/SCHEMES
 Operation Blackboard
The Operation Blackboard scheme, started in 1987-88, which aimed at improving the
classroom environment by providing infrastructural facilities, additional teachers and
teaching-learning material to primary schools and by provision of a third teacher to
schools where enrolment exceeded 100, has been extended to upper primary schools. A
total of 5, 23,000 primary schools and 1,27,000 upper primary schools have been
provided funds for the development of academic infrastructure (teaching-learning
material). Besides, 1,50,000 posts of additional teachers for single teacher primary
schools, 76,000 posts of additional teachers at the upper primary stage and 83,000
posts of third teachers have been sanctioned so far.
 Restructuring and Reorganisation of TeacherEducation
11
The scheme of Restructuring and Reorganisation of Teacher Education, started in1987,
aims to strengthen the institutional base of teacher training by taking up special
programmes for training of teachers in specified areas and other non-institutional
training programmes. Other objectives of the scheme are: setting up District Institutes
of Education and Training (DIETs) to provide academic and resource support to
elementary school teachers and non-formal and adult education instructors; and
establishment of Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and Institutes of Advanced
Studies in Education (IASEs) for pre-service and in-service training for secondary
schoolteachers. The scheme also envisages strengtheningState Councils of Educational
Research andTraining (SCERT); orienting teachers in the use of Operation Black-board
material; and implementation of the Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL) strategy.
Under this scheme, 471 DIETs, 86 CTEs, 38 IASEs have been sanctioned so far. More
than 1.9 million teachers have been trained under the Special Orientation Programme of
School Teachers in the use of Operation Blackboard material and implementation of the
MLL strategy. The scheme has recently been revamped with greater thrust on
improving the quality of teacher training institutions in partnership with states. The
revised scheme provides for more assistance to states; memorandums of understanding
(MoU) with states to improve the efficiency of key resource institutes; widening the
scope of the Special Orientation Programme for school teachers; and enhancing the
capacities of existing personnel for the management of teacher education programmes.
 District Primary Education Programme(DPEP)
The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), launched in 1994, is assisted by the
World Bank, European Commission, and Departmentfor International Development
(DFID) of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United Nations International
Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). It aims at operationalising the strategies for
achieving UPE/UEE through district-specific planning and disaggregated target setting
in low female literacy districts and builds on the successful Total Literacy Campaign
(TLC) which has created a favourable climate for universalisation. Eighty five per cent of
the funds for the project come from external agencies through the central budget and
the remaining 15 per cent is given by the concerned state governments. The programme
components include construction of classrooms and new schools, opening of the nonformal/alternative schooling centres, appointment of new teachers, and setting up of
early childhood education (ECE) centres, strengthening of SCERTs and DIETs, and
setting up of block resource centres/cluster resource centres. It also comprises teacher
training, interventions, development of teaching-learning material, research and a
thrust on education of girls, SC/ST etc. A new initiative of providing integratededucation
to disabled children and distanceeducation for teacher training has also been
incorporated in the DPEP scheme.
Under DPEP, 21,000 new formal schools and over 67,000 new alternative schools have
been opened, covering 2.5 million children, and 20,000 bridge courses conducted. The
programme has set up over 10,000 ECE centres and strengthened more than 50,000
pre-primary centres of anganwadis. DPEP has provided training to over three million
community members and about one million teachers. About 27,700 school buildings,
37,000 classrooms and 11,100 resource centres have been completed or are in progress
in DPEP districts. The programme now covers about 50 per cent of the children in the
primary stage in over 271 districts in 18 states.
 Mahila Samakhya
Another externally-assisted programme with a specific focus on gender is
MahilaSamakhya, started in 1989 in five States. It aims to promote women’s education
12
and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly women in socially and
economically marginalised groups. It endeavours to create a learning environment
where women can collectively affirm their potential, gain and strength to demand
information and knowledge, and move forward to change and take charge of their lives.
Mahila Samakhya has reached the poor and marginal women who have been able to
overcome social barriers and are addressing issues such as child marriage, child labour,
and violence against women. A pool of aware women has been created through the
Mahila Shikshan Kendras and there is an ever-increasing demand for literacy and
education for their daughters and granddaughters. This has had a beneficial social
impact like delaying the age of marriage of girls. The programme is currently
implemented in over 9,000 villages in 53 districts spread over ten states.
 Mid-Day Meal Scheme
The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education commonly
known as the Mid-day Meal programme was launched in 1995. It aims to give a boost to
universalisation of primary education by increasing enrolment, retention and
attendance and simultaneously improving the nutritional status of students in primary
classes.
Under the scheme, cooked meals are served withcalorie value equivalent to 100 gm of
wheat or rice per student per school day. The honour of starting the Mid-day Meal
scheme in elementary schools in the country goes to Tamil Nadu.The number of
children covered under the programme has risen from 33.4 million in about 3,22,000
schools in 1995-96 to 105.1 million students in 7,92,000 schools spread over 576
districts in 2000-01. It is targeted to cover 107.2 million children in 578 districts during
2001-02. Over 15 lakh tonnes of food grains were lifted for the scheme during 2000-01
compared to 14 lakh tonnes in 1999-2000. Currently, only six states - Gujarat, Kerala,
Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh (174 tribal blocks) and Madhya Pradesh - and the
Union Territory of Pondicherry are providing hot cooked meals under the programme.
In Delhi, ready-toeat food is being distributed. The remaining states/ Union Territories
are distributing food grains (wheat/ rice). States like Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh and Karnataka were able to lift 95.7 per cent, 92.9 per cent, 87.8 per cent and
86.6 per cent of food grains respectively under the scheme in 2000-01 while some
others such as Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Delhi lifted only 12.78 per
cent, 25.17 per cent, 30.33 per cent and 33.98 per cent food grains respectively.
The Mid-day Meal scheme has been evaluated by different agencies at different
points of time. The Operations Research Group, evaluated the scheme in July 1999 in ten
states with the support of UNICEF and found that the scheme has attracted SC/ST
children and children belonging to lower income groups to school. The Planning
Commission also commissioned two studies in April 2000 to measure the impact of the
scheme and found that a cooked meal programme was preferable not only from the
health point of view but also because it attracted more children to schools. Similarly,
other studies conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) and Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE) have also upheld the view that
the scheme has had a positive impact in the direction of universalisation of primary
education.
Despite the fact that the scheme has increased enrolment as well as retention of
students, it has not been successful in achieving its ambitious targets for nation-wide
coverage. Someof the weaknesses of the programme are:
 Non-provision of a cooked meal.
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Enrolment data, which is to be provided by the states each year and on the basis of
which food grains are allocated for ten academic months, is not available. This is
evident in the fact that there is a mismatch between the allocation and lifting of food
grains.
Inability of states to arrange the timely delivery of food grains. A major reason for
this is the non-availability of funds with the implementing agencies to meet the
initial expenditure on transportation charges, which is later reimbursed by the
central government. This particularly affects schools in far-flung areas.
Community participation in the implementation of the programme is lacking
because of poor awareness and advocacy, among other things.
Since the initial arrangement for Management Information System (MIS) through
the National Informatics Centre NET (NICNET) did not take off, close monitoring and
supervision of the programme was negligible, resulting in furnishing of erratic
reports on utilisation as well as beneficiaries covered under the scheme.
 Non-Formal Education (NFE) and EGS & AIE
The scheme of non-formal education (NFE), introduced in 1977-78 on a pilot basis and
expanded in subsequent years, focused on out-of school children in the 6-14 age group
who have remained outside the formal system due to socioeconomic and cultural
reasons. The scheme was initially limited to ten educationally backward states, covering
urban slums, hilly, tribal and desert areas. The scheme has many lacunae – lack of
enthusiasm of teachers, poor quality of training, ambiguity in curriculum and textbooks, lack of community participation, weak management system, insufficient outlay, a
lack of emphasis on mainstreaming etc. Moreover, most NFE centres were in habitations
already served by formal schools.
The programme was revised and renamed the Education Guarantee Scheme and
Alternative and Innovative Education (EGS & AIE) in 2000. It provided for opening EGS
schools in habitationswhere there are no schools within a radius of one km. The
EGS&AIE scheme will support diversified strategies for out-of-school children including
bridge courses, back-to-school camps, seasonal hostels, summer camps, mobile teachers
and remedial coaching. The investment cost per child per year has been increased from
Rs. 375 to Rs. 845 at the primary level centre and from Rs. 580 to Rs. 1,200 at the upper
primary level.
 Janshala (GOI-UN) Programme
The Janshala (GOI-UN) Programme is a collaborative effort of the Government of India
(GOI) and five United Nations (UN) agencies – UN Development Programme (UNDP),
UNICEF, UN Economic and Social Commission (UNESCO), International Labour
Organisation (ILO) and UNFPA. It provides programme support to the ongoing efforts
towards achieving UEE. UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA have committed to contribute $ 20
million for the programme while UNESCO and ILO have offered technical know-how.
Janshala is a community-based primary education programme that aims to make
primary education more accessible and effective, especially for girls and children in
deprived communities, marginalised groups, SCs/STs, minorities, working children and
children with special needs. The programme covers 139 blocks in nine states – Andhra
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – with a total project outlay of Rs. 103.29 crore. The
programme is to run for five years, from 1998 to 2002. At the state level, the
14
programme is implemented through existing structures of educational administration.
Janshala has started a large number of alternative schools in small and remote
habitations in the programme areas, besides evolving strategies and setting up schools
with community participation in the urban slums of Jaipur, Hyderabad, Ajmer,
Bharatpur, Puri and Lucknow.Other major areas of achievement are in teacher training,
multi-grade teaching, intervention for education of the disabled, setting up of block and
cluster resources centres and strengthening capacities at the state, district and block
level.
7. SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SSA)
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was launchedtowards the end of the Ninth Plan to achieve
thegoal of UEE through a time-bound integrated approach, in partnership with states.
The programme, which aims to provide elementary education to all children in the 6-14
age group by 2010, was an effort to improve the performance of the school system and
provide community-owned quality elementary education in the mission mode. It also
envisages bridging of gender and social disparities at the elementary level. The Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan has a special focus on the educational needs of girls, SCs and STs and
other children in difficult circumstances. Under the programme, habitation plans,
prepared after micro-planning, household surveys, school mapping and diagnostic
studies, form the basis for the District Elementary Education Plans (DEEP). The Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan was expected to accord the highest priority to community monitoring,
transparency in programme planning and implementation of capacity building at all
levels as also to the adoption of a mission approach by the mainstream Education
Department functionaries. A National Mission for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was
constituted in November 2000 with the Prime Minister as the Chairman and the
Minister for Human Resource Development as Vice-Chairman.
The scheme
wasexpected to absorb most of the existing programmes, including externallyaided
programmes, within its overall framework with the district as the unit of programme
implementation. To made the approach totally holistic and convergent, efforts had been
made to dovetail programme implementation at the district level with all other
departments. That would include programmes for children in the 0-6 age group
underthe Department of Women and Child Development, sports-related interventions
of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, establishment of public libraries under the
Department of Culture and nutrition and health programmes of the Ministry of Health.
8. OBJECTIVES OF SARVA SHIKSHAABHIYAN





All children to be in schools, Education Guarantee Scheme centres, alternate
schools, back-to-school camps by 2003;
all children to complete five years of primary schooling by 2007;
all children to complete eight years of schooling by 2010;
focus on elementary education ofsatisfactory quality with emphasis on education
for life;
bridge all gender and social disparities atthe primary stage by 2007 and at the
upper primary level by 2010; anduniversal retention by 2010.
15
9. INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMES IN EDUCATION IN
DIFFERENT STATES
Several state governments have designed innovative programmes to improve the
quality of education in schools.
HEAD START
The Rajiv Gandhi State Mission in Madhya Pradesh has introduced a project on a pilot
basis for using computers to improve the quality of teaching in rural elementary schools
through indigenous customised educational software. The idea is to integrate the use of
computers with classroom activities to improve the child’s comprehension of difficult
parts of each subject as well as to in still computer literacy. A syllabus mapping the
difficult areas of learning has been developed and educational software on this for all
subjects is being prepared for use in the academic year 2002-03. Started in November
2000, 648 Head Start centres were operationalised in middle schools that have a
primary section and serve as Jan Shiksha Kendras or school cluster resource centres for
primary schools in a radius of eight km. A total of 2,358 teachers have been given
training in computer enabled education.
GYANKALASH
The District Primary Education Programme in Himachal Pradesh, in collaboration with
All India Radio, Shimla, has started a 15-minute bi-weekly programme called
Gyankalash to provide academic support to primary teachers. The programme helps in
improving the teachers’ access to the knowledge, especially those in the remote areas as
it is impossible to reach them through conventional means. In the first phase of
Gyankalash, topics were identified and radio scripts developed in workshops organised
for the purpose. Resource persons, teacher educators from state and district level,
practising teachers in secondary and primary schools participated in the workshops. In
the next phase, teachers and students from government primary schools were involved
in the production and broadcast of the spots. In order to motivate teachers, certificates
were given to teachers on the successful completion of the training under different
phases of Gyankalash.
NALI KALI
The Nali Kali programme in Karnataka was introduced in privately managed schools in
1999. Under the programme, learning takes place in an interactive situation in
accordance with age-wise competency. Children are divided into groups and they
master one level of competency, then move to another group to learn the next level of
competency. Children learn at their own pace and the move from one level of
competency to another is not dependent on the whole group’s learning achievement. All
teaching-learning processes involve songs, games, survey, story telling and use of
educational toys. This method effectively eliminates the formal system of roll calls,
examination, promotions, ranking – all these now deemed unhealthy – at least between
the of 5 and 14.
16
10.
GOALS, TARGETS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE
TENTH PLAN
Goals and Targets
In the elementary education sector, the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is in place with clear focusand medium-term goals specified as
under:
Universal Access
•
•
•
•
All children in the 6-14 age groups should have access to primary schools, upper
primary schools or their alternatives within a walking distance of one km and three
km respectively.
All children in the 3-6 age groups must have universal access to early childhood care
and education centres.
Need-based expansion of upper primary education facilities, particularly for the
disadvantaged sections. There should be one upper primary school for every two
primary schools.
All schools should have buildings, toilets, drinking water, electricity, playgrounds,
blackboards and other basic facilities. There must be provision of one classroom for
every teacher at the elementary stage.
Universal Enrolment
• Enrolment of all children in schools or alternative arrangements by 2003.
• All children to complete five years of primary schooling by 2007.
Universal Retention
• Universal retention in the primary stage by 2007.
• Dropout rate to be reduced to less than 10 per cent for grades VI-VIII by 2007.
Universal Achievement
• Improve the quality of education in all respects (content and process) to ensure
reasonable learning outcomes at the elementary level, especially in literacy, numerics
and in life skills.
Equity
Bridge all gender and social gaps in enrolment, retention and learning achievement in
the primary stage by 2007 and reduce the gap to 5 per cent in the upper primary stage
by 2007.
• Special interventions and strategies toinclude girls, SC/ST children, workingchildren,
children with special needs, urban deprived children, children from minority groups,
children below the poverty line, migratory children and children in the hardest-toreach groups.
UEE At the time of independence, India inherited a system of education which was not
only quantitatively small but also characterised by structural imbalances. Only 14% of
the population was literate and only one child out of three had been enroled in primary
school. The low levels of participation and literacy were aggravated by acute regional
and gender disparities. As education is vitally linked with the totality of the
development process- education being the basic tool for the development of
•
17
consciousness and reconstruction of society. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi- the
reform and restructuring of the educational system was recognised as an important
area of state intervention.
The need for a literate population and universal education for all children in the age
group of 6-14 was recognised as a crucial input for nation building and was given due
consideration in the constitution as well as in the successive five year plans. This has
resulted in a manifold increase of spatial spread, infrastructural facilities, increased
coverage of various social groups; but the goal of providing basic education to all could
not be achieved.
11.
STRATEGIES FOR UNIVERSALISATION OF
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
1) Holistic and Convergent approach: As the existing policies and programmes
are either for specific target groups or regions, there is need for an all
comprehensive programme covering the entire country. The Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan is such a programme and will be the main vehicle for achieving the goals
of UEE.
2) Community Participation in UEE Programmes: The involvement of the
community will be made more systematic by involving the panchayati raj
institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies. Further down the hierarchy, VECs,
Mother- Teacher Associations (MTA) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA)
would have a formal role in the management of schools in the village.
3) Target-Groups Oriented Strategy : The Emphasis should be on identifying the
problem areas and formulating a separate strategy for each area, under the
overall umbrella of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. There will be special focus on
children who have never enrolled or those who have dropped out without
completing eight years of elementary schooling. Specific strategies would be
devised for the difficult-to-reach groups in order to ascertain the reasons for
their staying away from school system and to take steps to provide them quality
elementary education.
12.
PROGRAMMES FOR ACHIEVING UEE
The following schemes would be the instruments by which these strategies would be
translated into action during the Tenth Plan.
1) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan : Out of the approximately 207.76 million children in
the 6-14 age group in 2000, the number of children not attending the schools is
40 million. Those outside the school system are mostly girls, SCs/STs children,
working children, urban deprived children, disabled children and children in
difficult circumstances. Providing access and motivation to these difficult to
reach groups, without compromising on the quality of education, would be the
challenge that the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan would tackle in the Tenth Plan.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will totally subsume all existing programmes,
barring the Midday Meals scheme, and the scheme of Restructuring and
Reorganisation of Teachers’ Education. All legal agreements regarding
externally-aided projects such as Mahila Samakhya, DPEP, Lok Jumbish, Shiksha
Karmi, etc, will continue to apply unless specific modifications have been made
18
in consultation with the funding agencies. In order to achieve a holistic and
convergent approach, efforts would be made to dovetail programme
implementation at the district level with all other programmes. This would
include programmes for children in the 0-6 age group under the Department of
Women and Child Development, sports-related interventions of the Department
of Sports and Youth Affairs, establishment of public libraries under the
Department of Culture, nutrition and school health programmes of the Ministry
of Health and the employment generation / poverty alleviation programmes of
Ministry of Rural Development. This dovetailing exercise would be undertaken
while formulating the DEEPs.
2) Gender-Specific Programmes : Some women-centric programmes such as the
existing Mahila Samakhya, and two new schemes, the Kasturba Gandhi
Swantantra Vidyalaya (KGSV) and the National Programme for the Education of
Girls at the Elementary Level (NPEGEL). Mahila Samakhya will be expanded both
in terms of geographical reach and activities like the Mahila Shikshan Kendras.
However, it will retain its objectives, identity and non-negotiable principles. The
KGSV and the NPEGEL programmes with important features:
 Focus on educationally backward areasin girls’ education;
 Focus on girls from the disadvantagedsections like those belonging to SC/ST,
minorities, etc
 Tackling gender-specific issues that prevent girls and women from havingaccess
to education;
 Providing women and adolescent girls withthe necessary support structure, and
aninformal learning environment to createopportunities for education;
 Creating circumstances for larger participationof women and girls in formal and
non-formal education programmes; and
 Helping girls to overcome socio-culturaland economic factors inhibiting their
access to elementary education.
3) Mid-day Meal Scheme : A Supreme Court order in 2001 makes it obligatory for
statesto provide cooked meals instead of dry rations withinthe stipulated timeframe, under the Mid-day Mealsscheme. Further, in order to achieve the goals set
in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, modifications would be made in the
scheme in thelight of feedback received from evaluation studies,the experience
gained from the working of thescheme, and the opinions of experts.
Themodifications would include the following:
 Expanding the programme to cover thechildren of the EGS & AIE scheme.
 Ending the present practice of distributingfood grains and providing hot
cookedmeals or ready-to-eat food based onsound nutritional principles.
 Allowing adequate flexibility in themanagement of the programme by the local
bodies/community through VECs, School Management Committees (SMCs),PTAs
etc. Also, fostering stronger communityparticipation in the implementationof the
programme and encouraging theparticipation of credible NGOs,
whereverpossible.
 Decentralising the management of theprogramme to enable reduction in
leakagesand mismanagement etc.
 Providing funds in advance to the implementingagencies through their state
nodalofficer for the transportation of food grains.
 Limiting teachers’ involvement in theprogramme to supervision activities.
19
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Extensive use of the computerised MIS(CMIS) net for monitoring
purposes.External agencies are to be involved inmonitoring and supervision to
ensuregreater accountability. Elected representativeswill also be involved
insupervision.
Linkage with poverty alleviation programmesin rural and urban areas, adequate
support of the Union Ministryof Health and the state HealthDepartments for a
school healthprogramme and support from theDepartment of Women and Child
Developmentfor nutrition education.
A memorandum of understanding beentered into with the key
stakeholders(state governments, local bodies, etc.) onthe key parameters of the
programme.
Mid Day Meal Programme Annual Work Plan and Budget 2015-16 of
Jammu & Kashmir
The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Education (popularly known as Mid
Day Meal Scheme) was launched in the J&K State in September 2004 with an objective
to give a boost to Universalization of Primary Education by increasing enrolment,
retention and attendance. In pursuance of the directions dated 20th April, 2004 of the
Hon’ble Supreme Court, the J&K School Education Department reviewed various issues
related with the proper implementation of the scheme in accordance with the directions
and necessary measures have been taken as under: The programme has been universalized.
 At gross root level, the scheme is being implemented under the supervision of PRIs,
School Management Committees & Village Education Committees.
 The food grains are lifted from the FCI by the Directors of Consumer Affairs and
Public Distribution Department on behalf of the Education Department as the CAPD
has a good network of sale outlets across the State with capacity to store the food
grains. Thereafter the food grains are being lifted from the nearest Public
Distribution Centre by the authorized representative of the identified schools.
 The contingent paid workers were originally assigned the job of cooking but now for
this purpose cook-cum-helpers have been engaged and assigned the job of cooking.
 The necessary expenses on account of implementation of the Mid-day Meal Scheme
are being met out of the funds in the ratio of 75:25 as Central and State Share for
Cooking Cost, Honorarium to Cook cum Helpers and construction of Kitchen-cumStores.
 Management structure.
The MDM scheme is being implemented in the State by Director School Education
Jammu/Kashmir to ensure the transparency of the Scheme. The following management
Committees at Divisional/District/Zonal level has also been constituted: a. The Divisional Level Committee headed by one Joint Director from the respective
Directorate of School Education.
b. The District Level Committee headed by Principal DIET of the respective District.
c. The Zonal Level Committee headed by one Principal of +2 institution of the
respective zone to be nominated by the Chief Education Officer of the concerned
District.
In addition, the monitoring of the MDM Scheme has been brought under the control of
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Village Education Committees.
20

Process of Plan Formulation.
The process of plan formulation started from the school level. The SMC/VLC members
were consulted while formulating plan at school level. The school level plan got
consolidated at the Zonal level under the supervision of the Zonal Education Officer of
the respective zone. The Zonal level plan got consolidated at the District level by the
Chief Education Officer. After the District Level consolidation, the Plan is consolidated at
the Divisional level under the supervision of Director School Education (J/K) and then
consolidated at the State Level.

Description and assessment of the programme implemented in
the current year (2014-15) and proposal for next year (201516) with reference to:
During the year 2014-15, a total number of 23166 Schools have been covered (13435
Primary and 9731 Upper Primary) with the children coverage of 1068831 (721010
Primary and 347821 U Primary) upto ending of December 2014 and the next Financial
Year 2015-16 the same coverage is proposed.

Regularity and wholesomeness of mid - day meals served to
children; reasons for programme interruptions, if any and
planning to minimize them.
The mid-day meal was regularly served to the children during the current financial year
2014-15 with some minor interruptions caused by the natural calamities such as floods
in the State. For the next financial year (2015-16) the scheme will be implemented
without any interruption subject to the availability of funds.
13.
STRATEGIES FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
While the goals of universal literacy andenrolment are laudable in themselves,
theachievements in these areas would remain hollowwithout ensuring quality
education. A qualitativeimprovement in the content and processes ofbasic education, in
order to make them moreresponsive to the learning needs of individualsand the
development needs of different socioeconomicsectors, continues to be a majorchallenge.
The challenge for providing qualityeducation at the elementary level involves
improvements in the preparation, motivation and deployment of teachers, the quality of
textbooksand of infrastructural facilities. It also involvesmaking education relevant to
society’s needs andstrengthening the management and institutionalcapacity of
educational institutions especially atthe state, district and local levels.
Improving the quality of textbooks is crucial as they are the main instructional aids
inelementary schools, and are the only readingmaterial for most students.The quality of
infrastructural facilities(particularly toilets for girls), equipment and supportservices,
also has a significant impact on enrolmentand retention. In this context, the main
challengeis to provide a classroom for every teacher in theprimary and upper primary
schools and a separateroom for the headmaster in upper primary schoolsalong with
playground facilities and clean toilets.Although one-third of the expenditure
approvedunder DEEP is earmarked for the construction ofbuildings etc., there are still a
substantial numberof primary schools without these facilities. The mainthrust in the
Tenth Plan should be to ascertain thatall the primary schools have pucca buildings with
all supporting infrastructural facilities.
21
Teachers Education
Improving the performance of teachers isthe most important challenge in
elementaryeducation as they are the principal instruments ofeducation. Besides,
teachers’ salary claims themajor share of the state education budget. Althougha lot has
already been done to improve the qualityof teachers, historical deficiencies in
teachers’education and training has resulted in many of themhaving little
understanding of the material theyteach, poor teaching skills and poor
motivationlevels.Besides addressing the issue of quality, some of the broadstrategies,
which would be followed, are:
14.
DEVELOPMENT AND STRENGTHENING OF
TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES
The focus of teacher education would beon the development of the following
institutions:
 District Institute of Education andTraining (DIETs) :
Each state would beencouraged to rethink the structure of itsDIETs as per needs of the
district andeffectiveness of the institution. Each DIETwould be encouraged to draw up a
developmentplan for itself, defining its role andsetting goals for itself. Special
attentionwill be paid to the development of librariesin DIETs, as well as providing
computerfacilities (including computer literacytraining), exposure visits, networking
andsharing among DIETs and other academicinstitutions on professional issues and
theestablishment of district resource groups.Further, new DIETs would be set up onlyin
those states where the existing onesare functional and steps are taken toimprove substandard DIETs.
 College of Teacher Education (CTEs)and Institutes of Advanced
Studies inEducation (IASEs):
The need for CTEsand IASEs in each state would beascertained in terms of the needs
forsecondary teacher education and identifiedinstitutions would be strengthened.The
identified CTEs/ IASEs would need to prepare their individual plan ofdevelopment,
mentioning the areas inwhich they need to be strengthened andmake a need
assessment survey in theareas of their jurisdiction. They must alsodevelop schedules
and materials of in service teacher training to cover secondary teachers and implement
theNational Council of Teacher Education(NCTE) project on imparting
informationtechnology (IT) literacy to the teachers.IASEs would be encouraged to play
agreater role in elementary education and education of teacher educators.
 Strengthening of State Councils forEducational Research and
Training(SCERTs) :
The SCERT is identified as akey area for teacher education in the TenthPlan. The state
governments need to fulfil some essential conditions for being eligiblefor funds for
strengthening of SCERTs,such as recruitment of appropriate faculty,linkage to DIETs,
resource centres andschools, autonomy of SCERTs and propermaintenance of buildings
etc. Only thenwould the central government fundcapacity building and training of
SCERTfaculty, development of infrastructure,computers and IT literacy programmesand
hostels for residential training programmes,etc. SCERTs should be equippedto plan for
computer education curricula,teacher training etc. at the school level,strengthening of
cells for teaching ofEnglish language at the elementary level, strengthening of pre22
service education etc, pre-service as well as In-serviceTraining of Teachers, including
Para-Teachers.
15.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS
The focus would be on ensuring pre-service training to allelementary school teachers so
that alluntrained teachers can be trained withina period of three years, including
throughthe distance learning mode.
 Enhancing pre-service training facilities inselected districts where the
presentcapacity is not adequate.
 Improving the quality of elementaryteacher pre-service education.
 Extending the provision of pre-primaryteacher training by strengthening
existinginstitutions that provide, or are willing to provide, pre-service education
for the pre-primary stage.
 Developing specialised correspondencecourses, of two months to one
year’sduration, for elementary teachers in collaborationwith open universities,
highereducation institutions, good IASEs, NGOswith experience in quality
education, andother professional organisations.
 Development of courses for in-serviceeducation of teachers that will carry
creditsand linking these to promotions andbenefits.
Strengthening of Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource
Centres (CRCs)
With an emphasis on providing academicsupport to the teachers locally, depending
oncontext-specific needs, DIETs would have closelinkage with BRCs and CRCs whose
personnel getacademic support from them.
16.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF
PRACTITIONERS, TEACHER EDUCATORS,
MANAGERS AND OTHERS
New courses for teacher educators andcurriculum developers would be developed and
triedout on a pilot basis. Innovations and pilot projectsin pre-service and in-service
teacher education willbe supported. Another major focus area would benetworking of
teacher education institutions andstrengthening of teacher education by
expandingaccess to digital resources. The networkedinstitutions would then be able to
use the Informationand Communication Technologies (ICT) for onlinesharing of
resources and for breaking the isolationof institutions.
SYSTEMATIC LEARNER EVALUATION
A mechanism for regular learner assessmentwill be designed and put in place to
evaluatethe impact and efficacy of measures taken forimprovement in school quality.
17.
STRATEGY FOR DROP-OUTS
23
A large number of children drop out ofschool because of reasons relating to the
schoolenvironment. These include attitude of teachers,irrelevant curriculum, substandard and uninterestingteaching, teacher absenteeism, corporalpunishment, poor
school infrastructure, inability tocope with the pace of learning, lack of parentalsupport
in the case of first generation learners,\ maladjustment, etc. Girls form the majority of
thedropouts in all categories. The National FamilyHealth Survey-II (NFHS-II), conducted
in 1998-99,also observed that the main reasons for studentsdropping out include their
not being interested instudies, the high private cost of education and theneed for them
to work, whether in their own farms,business/households or outside. These reasons
held true for 75 percent of dropouts. The main challenge for educationauthorities at the
central, state and district levels isto (a) improve the supply, quality and retentionpower
of education, particularly in rural primary schools and in the unreached segments; and
(b)introduce innovative methods of providing educationto identified disadvantaged and
difficult groups tosuit their timing and interests. The focus in the Tenth Plan would,
therefore, be on pedagogic improvement and adoption of child-centered methods,
which have been developed in programmes like DPEP; and building a positive
environment that wouldinclude more attractive classroom designs, localcontextual
curriculum and more friendly evaluationtechniques. Apart from a number of steps
undertake nunder the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to reduce the private cost of education, an
incentive schemelinked to attendance has been suggested for girls, SCs/STs and poor
children.
Where the children are dropping outbecause of the need to work, the emphasis
wouldbe on involving the community in motivating theparents to bring their children
back to school sothat they are in a position to complete eight yearsof elementary
education. For those children who have already dropped out, suitable
alternativeeducation systems such as bridge courses,remedial teaching, back to school
camps, etc.,would be provided so that they can be main streamed into the formal
system.
18.
STRATEGY FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
AND EDUCATION (ECCE)
Early childhood development is globallyacknowledged as a significant input for
lifelongdevelopment and successful completion of primaryeducation. The Tenth Plan
acknowledges ECCE as the first step in the education ladder. The majorprovider of ECCE
is the Integrated Child DevelopmentServices (ICDS) scheme which covers 15.8million
children (17.8 per cent of the child population of 3-6 years) through about 5,20,000
anganwadis in 29 states and Union Territories. Early Childhood Education or Pre-School
Education is among thesix components of the ICDS scheme and is one ofits weakest. The
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan aims to support (i) strengthening the pre-school componentin
ICDS by need-based training of anganwadi sevikas, provision of learning materials, etc,;
(ii)setting up balwadis as pre-school centres inuncovered areas; (iii) building advocacy
on theimportance of early child development; (iv)organising training programmes for
communityleaders; (v) providing for intensive planning forECCE; (vi) development of
materials; and (vii)promoting convergence between the school systemand the ECCE.
Community Participation In ElementaryEducation
Decentralisation provides a clear correlationbetween the needs of people and the
stepstaken by the Government to meet these demands.
24
Planning from below and contextualised resourceallocation for basic services would not
only be morecost effective and produce better results but will alsoensure that the
quality of the services is directlyproportional to the degree of community control
andsupervision. People’s participation in the provisionof basic services can, as
mentioned in the Mid-Term Appraisal of the Five-Year Plan, contribute tothe
achievement of four main objectives, i.e.,effectiveness, efficiency, empowerment and
equity. The thrust on decentralised planning andmanagement came as early as in 1986,
in the National Policy of Education, which had proposeddecentralisation as a
fundamental requirement forimproving the efficiency and effectiveness of
educationalplanning and management and for evolvinga meaningful framework for
accountability. TheApproach Paper to the Five-Year Plan has also reiterated that the
mere establishment ofschools and hiring of teachers will not lead to animprovement in
education if teachers remainabsent, as is common, especially in the rural areas. It is,
therefore, essential that control over schoolsand teachers should be transferred to local
bodies, which have a direct interest in teacher performance. Planning, supervision and
management of educationwould have to be through local bodies at thedistrict, block and
village levels. Efforts should alsobe made for the social mobilisation of localcommunities
for adult literacy campaigns and forthe promotion of primary education. While the
decentralisation of governance, through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments,
have facilitated the transfer of the managementof schools to panchayats/local bodies,
the realchallenge now is to create an enabling environmentfor the qualitative
participation of all groups. The qualitative participation should mean that
thecommunity is able to have a voice and exercise itschoice. It also involves the
development of human, organisational and management capacity to solve problems and
sustain the improvements.
Recognising the fact that community participation is the surest way to ensure UEE
andimprove the quality of education, several stategovernments have already initiated
the process of decentralising the management of elementary education by involving the
community. Other stateswould also be encouraged to transfer themanagement of
primary schools to panchayat/localbodies with special emphasis on :
 Encouraging community participation inpromoting enrolment, retention and
otheraspects of education. PRIs and grassroot level organisations like VECs,
PTAs, MTAsetc. should become the vehicles of communitymobilisation;
 Evolving a community-based monitoringsystem evolved with full transparency;
 Making community mobilisation throughintensive micro-planning and
schoolmapping mandatory;
 Participatory implementation of goals andstrategies.
 This shift in planning and managementstrategy will also require a massive effort
to trainand continually support educational bodies set upunder the PRIs/urban
local bodies. There is anurgent need to reorient the outlook of
governmentfunctionaries and their perception of their roles.Efforts will be made
to reorient the programmes ofvarious resource institutions at the national and
statelevels to meet these requirements. Towards thisend, the local level
institutions in education andallied sectors will be strengthened
adequately.Besides, it is envisaged that distance educationmechanisms will be
suitably strengthened andreoriented to play a significant role in the task
ofbuilding capacities among local-level functionaries. Pursuing the goal of
decentralisation, along with partnership between the Centre and thestates,
demands careful orchestration of policies andprogrammes, particularly in the
25
area of elementaryeducation. As envisaged in the National Policy onEducation,
and subsequently reiterated by severalbodies, the central government and its
institutions will continue to play a major role both for coordination and capacity
building. It will continue to monitor the progress of attaining national goalsin the
field of elementary education.
19.
SYNERGETIC PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
PRIVATE SECTOR
The task of providing basic education in acountry with diverse conditions is so
stupendousthat it is difficult to expect the government sectoralone to do this effectively.
Even though privateinitiatives have always been a part of the schooleducation
endeavour, it has neither been large norof a sizeable magnitude in the efforts to
universaliseelementary education. The private sector can contribute not only in
monetary and material terms, but also in the form of expertise for improving quality
through effective management of the system andthe development of locally relevant
teaching learning materials. Some efforts in this directionhave already been made by
many states includingKarnataka, which has a school adoption scheme.More
collaborative efforts at the institutional levelas well as in programme implementation
will bedesigned to expand the role of private initiatives inelementary education. A
synergetic public-privatepartnership would be built up during the Tenth Planto achieve
the objective of UEE. Specifically, thefollowing measures would be encouraged:
 More collaborative efforts with the privatesector and expansion of the role of
privateinitiatives.
 Improve the functioning of governmentschools in partnership with the
privatesector, within the broad parameters ofstate policy.
 Provide support to initiatives introducedby private schools for deprived
children.
 Encourage the opening of privateschools, without compromising on quality.
 Provide computer education to children, utilising the expertise and resources of
the private sector.
Convergence as a Strategy for OptimumUtilisation of Resources
Cost effectiveness and efficiency in thedelivery of services under various
educationalprogrammes, which are mostly affected by thesocio-economic and political
conditions, can havea far-reaching impact on the most importantdeterminant of
development, i.e., human capitalformation. Effectiveness of the delivery of servicesin the
social sector also needs a high degree ofintegration and convergence in the planning
andimplementation of programmes of related socialsectors. Services like literacy,
elementary education, primary health care, nutrition, mother and childcare, family
welfare and rural development havestrong linkages and can only be
strengthenedthrough an appropriate integrated approach whichwill optimise public
expenditure and reinforce theeffective delivery system. All efforts would be madein the
Tenth Plan to achieve convergence both inthe formulation of schemes/programmes as
well asin their implementation through effectivecoordination at the national/state level
and lowerlevels of administration.
20.
STRIVES AND CHALLENGES OF PRIMARY
EDUCATION IN INDIA
26
India’s education system has not achieved strong learning outcomes for reasons that are
as diverse and nuanced as the country itself. Key among these reasons is poor teaching
quality, which results from a multitude of factors.
Inadequate Teacher Qualification and Support: Teachers working in primary schools
across rural India have a difficult job. DhirJhingran, a senior civil servant in the Indian
Administrative Service, with more than two decades of experience in rural primary
education, explained the multiple challenges they face: “Teachers have to teach multiple
grades, textbooks are pitched far above the comprehension level of students, and each
classroom has children with different levels of learning achievements.” Anurag Behar,
CEO of the AzimPremji Foundation, an education non-profit, noted that “the average
school teacher in India does not get adequate pre-service or in-service education, nor
does she get the support to overcome these problems.” Compounding this is the
relatively low educational qualifications of many teachers themselves. In 2008-2009, on
average, 45% of these teachers had not studied beyond the 12th grade.
Low Teacher Motivation and High Absenteeism: A key factor affecting the quality of
primary education appears to be low levels of teacher motivation. In 2002-2003, 25% of
primary-school teachers in rural India were absent on any given day. The impact of
absenteeism is exacerbated by the fact that the average primary school in India has a
workforce of no more than three teachers. At a school for girls in rural Rajasthan, we
observed this problem first hand: Of the eight teachers assigned, only five were present.
The three who were actually teaching were juggling eight different grades.
The obvious reason — remuneration — does not appear to be a driver. In fact, both
education experts and ordinary citizens argue that government-employed school
teachers are paid relatively well. UNESCO surveys from as early as 2004 indicated that
the annual statutory salary of primary school teachers in India with 15 years’
experience was more than $14,000, adjusted for purchasing power. This was
significantly higher than the then-statutory salaries of $3,000 in China and Indonesia,
and the Indian GDP per capita in 2004, which was $3,100.
Indian primary-school teachers may not be underpaid, but some argue that they may be
overworked. For Vivekanand Upadhyay, a seasoned educator and language professor at
a leading national University, one reason for the lack of motivation is that “primary
school teachers employed by the government, particularly in rural India, are required to
perform a wide range of duties completely unrelated to imparting education.” These
duties — including administering government programs such as immunization clinics,
assisting with data-collection for the national census, and staffing polling stations
during elections — in addition to their teaching responsibilities, place significant
demands on teachers’ time.
Another disheartening factor has been a highly bureaucratic administrative system that
discourages bold decision making and makes implementation difficult. For example, as
Jhingran observed, “it is difficult to test new practices on a small scale before rolling
them out: If a new program has been developed, the philosophy is that every school
must have it.” Such indiscriminate application often means that teachers are
implementing programs without understanding their key principles and ultimate goals.
Flawed Teaching Methodology: In India, rote learning has been institutionalized as a
teaching methodology. “Primary school teachers in rural India often try to educate
students by making them repeat sections of text over and over again,” said Jhingran.
Often they do not explain the meaning of the text, which results in stunted reading
comprehension skills over the course of the children’s education. For example, many
students in grades two and three in one particular school struggle to read individual
27
words, but can neatly copy entire paragraphs from their textbooks into their notebooks
as though they were drawing pictures.
Linguistic Diversity: Finally, India’s linguistic diversity creates unique challenges for the
nation’s education system. The country’s 22 official languages and hundreds of spoken
dialects often differ considerably from the official language of the state or region.
Jhingran commented that “the teacher not only has to account for varying learning
abilities within the classroom, but also dialectic nuances which affect students’
comprehension of the subject matter.”
Government-school-educated children from rural India struggle to speak even basic
sentences in English. “Students with rural primary schooling are at a significant
disadvantage as they transition to higher education, because India’s best universities
teach exclusively in English,” said Upadhyay. Part of the problem is that there is no one
to teach them. As Chandrakanta Khatwar, an experienced middle school teacher in a
rural government-run school in Rajasthan, asked: “When teachers themselves know
little English, especially spoken English, how will students learn?”
EconomicConditions: Although India has made great strides in economic development
and is now the 4th largest economy after U.S and China. It is home to one third of the
world’s poor. Poverty seriously affects the focus on education.
LiteracyLevels: According to 2011 census, literacy in India is 74%.In other words,
nearly a quarter of parents are still illiterarate. Their motivation to send their children
to school or to monitor their children in school is low. This is demonastrated through
irregular student attendance, low learning levels and dropouts.
21.
A PARALLEL, NON-GOVERNMENTAL
EDUCATION UNIVERSE
Since the late 1980s, government efforts to augment rural primary education have been
supplemented by the emergence of an intervention-based non-governmental system
that spans multiple institutional types.
While private schools have emerged as a parallel system over the last two decades, their
impact is limited because they serve less than 13% of India’s rural primary-school
children. However, do private schools really make a difference? Some studies have
found a small, but statistically significant, “private school advantage” in rural India.
Behar was skeptical about the superiority of private rural schools over their
government-run counterparts, noting, “Once we control for a child’s socioeconomic
background, private schools add little-to-no value. In many ways, private schools are in
much worse shape.” However, according to Khatwar, “more and more parents in small
towns are choosing to send their children to private schools if they can afford it” —
perhaps with good reason, because, on average, the number of students in each
classroom in private schools is often smaller and school heads exert greater control
over teachers.
Some organizations are attempting to innovate with new formats and systems of
education. Avasara Academy, a new school for girls, is a private institution whose
mission is to mold leaders from among the best and brightest girls in India, regardless
of their background. While admission is merit-based, the school intends to draw half its
students from disadvantaged rural and urban backgrounds, awarding them full
scholarships. In addition, it is developing a special curriculum that encourages
excellence beyond academics. “Avasara seeks to identify high potential young women
and guide them along a powerful journey of leadership development. We expect that
our graduates will form a network of leaders who will collaborate to drive positive
28
change across the country,” explained Mangala Nanda, humanities department chair for
Avasara. While still in the early stages of its development, Avasara’s successful
implementation would provide a viable model for high-quality, accessible education and
integration across socioeconomic boundaries.
Governmental Efforts
The Indian government at every level recognizes the need for educational reform and
has made a conscientious effort to achieve it. The midday-meal plan, for example, is a
highly publicized nationwide program through which government school children
across India are provided with a midday meal every day of the school week. The
program is largely considered a success. A study in 2011 by Rajshri Jayaraman and Dora
Simroth found that grade one enrollment increased by 20.8% simply if a midday meal
was offered.
According to Behar, “The Indian government has worked very hard to provide rural
schools with adequate infrastructure, something that was critically lacking a few
decades ago.” For instance, DISE reported in 2012 that more than 91% of primary
schools have drinking-water facilities and 86% of schools built in the last 10 years have
a school building. However, there is still a long way to go: Only 52% of primary schools
have a girls’ toilet, and just 32% are connected to the electricity grid.
In 2012, the Central Government enacted the Right to Education (RTE) Act, under which
every child between the ages of six and 14 receives a free and compulsory education. In
addition to regulating access to education, the act contains certain provisions that could
positively impact the quality of education. According to Jhingran, one of its major
achievements has been “the dramatic reduction of non-teaching duties assigned to
government school teachers, freeing up valuable time and lowering absenteeism.”
Partnering with the Government
Over the past few decades, many organizations have begun working with government
schools and teachers to improve learning outcomes. Pratham, a joint venture between
UNICEF and the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai, runs multiple programs to
supplement school education, such as learning support classes, libraries and additional
learning resources. A hallmark of these initiatives is that Pratham engages volunteers
from local communities and trains them to run these programs. Another important
initiative that has resulted from Pratham is the annual ASER, an assessment that
measures reading and arithmetic abilities by surveying more than 600,000 children
across 16,000 villages in India. This remarkable exercise in data-gathering constitutes
the foundation for informed decision-making and benchmarking.
Other initiatives address teaching quality by placing specially trained teachers in
government schools. Teach for India, modelled after the Teach for America program,
was introduced in 2006. Young, motivated Indian college graduates and professionals
apply for two-year fellowships to teach at government-run and low-income private
schools that lack sufficient resources. An important distinction of Teach for India is that
instruction is, by design, always in English. As Mohit Arora, fellowship recruitment
manager for Teach for India, noted, the organization’s philosophy on this point is that
“learning English is essential to future success, as English in today’s world is more than
just a language. It is a skill set.” Students who do not speak English may have some
difficulty initially, but the organization has made learning at these schools experiential
and therefore engaging. The dynamics of one particular grade 3 Teach for India
29
classroom were in stark contrast to other classrooms at the same school — students
were listening intently, contributing in class, answering questions beyond the textbook
and demonstrating a strong command over English. The challenge is scaling this model
to rural India.
Still other organizations focus on capacity development of teachers in government
schools, such as the Azim Premji Foundation. As CEO, Behar is categorical in his view
that the foundation “works in partnership with the government,” and that it “does not
believe in supplanting the government school system.” The foundation has established
scores of institutes at the district level that provide in-service education and also
empower teachers to learn from each other. For example, Behar described a voluntary
teacher forum in a district of Rajasthan, initially organized by the AzimPremji
Foundation, but now being run increasingly independently by teachers in the district.
22.
THE FUTURE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN
INDIA
Education in India has improved dramatically over the last three decades. Schools are
accessible to most children, both student enrolment and attendance are at their highest
level, and teachers are adequately remunerated. The RTE Act guarantees a quality
education to a wider range of students than ever before. However, challenges in
implementing and monitoring high standards in teaching and learning outcomes across
regional, cultural and socioeconomic subsets prevent India from fully achieving this
goal. In addition, teacher support and scalability of high-performing teaching
professionals in disparate areas, funding allocation for schools in remote districts and
limited use of technology in the classroom remain barriers to reforming primary
education.
India’s growth story remains one of the most anticipated global economic trends, and its
fulfilment relies on a well-educated and skilled workforce. Improving education is a
critical area of investment and focus if the country wants to sustain economic growth
and harness its young workforce. A weak foundation in primary education can derail
the lives, careers and productivity of tens of millions of its citizens. Already, a significant
proportion of the adult workforce in India is severely under-equipped to perform
skilled and semi-skilled jobs. As Rajesh Sawhney, former president of Reliance
Entertainment and founder of GSF Superangels, noted, “No one is unemployed in India;
there are just a lot of people who are unemployable.”
Furthermore, in order to develop India as a consumer market of global standards, it is
imperative that all of its children reap the full benefits of a high-quality education.
Otherwise, large segments of the population in rural India will continue to have low
purchasing power, find themselves in highly leveraged scenarios and, more often than
not, continue to make a living through agricultural means. While some of this can be
attributed to deficiencies in secondary and tertiary education, the root of these issues
lies in low-quality primary education.
23.
RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT-2009
Every child between the age of 6 to 14 years has the right to free and compulsory
education. This is stated as per the 86th Constitution Amendment Act added Article
21A. The right to education act seeks to give effect to this amendment. The government
schools shall provide free education to all the children and the schools will be managed
by school management committees (SMC). Private schools shall admit at least 25% of
the children in their schools without any fee. The National Commission for Elementary
30
Education shall be constituted to monitor all aspects of elementary education including
quality.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ACT: The passing of the Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 marks a historic moment for the children of
India.
This Act serves as a building block to ensure that every child has his or her right (as an
entitlement) to get a quality elementary education, and that the State, with the help of
families and communities, fulfils this obligation. Few countries in the world have such a
national provision to ensure both free and child-centred, child-friendly education.
Free and Compulsory Elementary Education
All children between the age of 6 and 14 shall have the right to free and compulsory
elementary education at a neighbourhood school. There is no direct (school fees) or
indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals, transportation) to be borne by the
child or the parents to obtain elementary education. The government will provide
schooling free-of-cost until a child's elementary education is completed.
Right to Education Act
Education is a fundamental human right, essential for the empowerment and
development of an individual and the society as a whole. According to the UNESCO's
'Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010', about 135 countries have
constitutional provision for free and non-discriminatory education for all. In 1950, India
made a Constitutional commitment to provide free and compulsory education to all
children up to the age of 14, by adding this provision in article 45 of the directive
principles of state policy.
With the 86th Constitutional amendment on 12th December 2002, Article 21A was
amended by the Constitution in order to introduce Right to Education as a fundamental
right.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act finally came into force on
1st April 2010. The Act provides for free and compulsory education to all children in the
age group of six to fourteen years. It is now a legally enforceable duty of the Centre and
the states, to provide free and compulsory education.
PROVISIONS OF RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT
The Act has the following major provisions:
Every child between the age of six to fourteen years, shall have the right to free and
compulsory education in a neighbourhood school, till completion of elementary
education.
 For this purpose, no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or
expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing
elementary
education.
Where a child above six years of age has not been admitted to any school or
though admitted, could not complete his or her elementary education, then, he or
she shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age.
 For carrying out the provisions of this Act, the appropriate government and local
authority shall establish a school, if it is not established, within the given area,
within a period of three years, from the commencement of this Act.
 The Central and the State Governments shall have concurrent responsibility for
providing funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
 This Act is an essential step towards improving each child's accessibility to
secondary and higher education. The Act also contains specific provisions for
31
disadvantaged groups, such as child labourers, migrant children, children with
special needs, or those who have a disadvantage owing to social, cultural,
economical, geographical, linguistic, gender or any such factor. With the
implementation of this Act, it is also expected that issues of school dropout, outof-school children, and quality of education and availability of trained teachers
would be addressed in the short to medium term plans.
 The enforcement of the Right to Education Act brings the country closer to
achieving the objectives and mission of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and Education for All (EFA) and hence is a historic step taken by the
Government of India.
Main features of Right to Education 2009 Act: The salient features of the Right of
Children for Free and Compulsory Education act are:
 Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the 6 to 14 age group;
 No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination
until completion of elementary education;
 A child above six years of age has not been admitted in any school or though
admitted, could not complete his or her elementary education, then, he or she
shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age; Provided that where a
child is directly admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age, then, he or she
shall, in order to be at par with others, have a right to receive special training, in
such manner, and within such time limits, as may be prescribed: Provided
further that a child so admitted to elementary education shall be entitled to free
education till completion of elementary education even after fourteen years.
Proof of age for admission: For the purposes of admission to elementary education.
the age of a child shall be determined on the basis of the birth certificate issued in
accordance with the provisions of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act,
1856 or on the basis of such other document, as may be prescribed. No child shall be
denied admission in a school for lack of age proof
 A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate;
 Calls for a fixed student-teacher ratio;
 Will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir;
 Provides for 25 percent reservation for economically disadvantaged
communities in admission to Class One in all private schools;
 Mandates improvement in quality of education;
 School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else
will lose job;
 School infrastructure (where there is problem) to be improved in three years,
else recognition cancelled;
 Financial burden will be shared between state and central government
Duties of the Appropriate Government
The Act prescribes the following duties for the Appropriate Government: To provide free and compulsory elementary education to all children in the age
group of 6-14 years;
 To ensure availability of a neighbourhood school with requisite infrastructure,
teachers, and learning equipment as specified in the Act;
 To ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education for
every child;
32





To ensure that children belonging to disadvantaged or weaker section are not
discriminated against and prevented from pursuing or completing elementary
education on any ground;
To provide special training facilities to out-of-school children admitted to age
appropriate class;
To provide training facility for teachers;
To ensure timely prescribing of curriculum and course of studies, and
To ensure quality education conforming to standards specified in the Schedule of
the Act.
What if the teacher remains absent or does not teach properly?



Disciplinary action can be taken against the teacher (Section 24(2)). The
procedure is outlined in respective state RTE Rules.
Does the Act define a 'Teacher'? Who will prescribe teacher qualifications?
Yes, the Act defines a 'Teacher' in Section 23(1). An academic institution of the
central government shall prescribe teacher qualifications that all teachers of the
country must have within five years. This will include both the academic and
professional qualifications. The central government has already notified that the
National Council for Teacher Education shall prescribe teacher qualifications. A
broader committee under MHRD has already sent its suggestions to the NCTE
regarding the new teacher qualifications.
Is private tuition banned for all teachers?
It is banned for all teachers as defined under this Act, working in government or
private elementary schools. Since this Act does not apply to secondary school
teachers, the ban on tuitions under this Act shall not extend to them, though
there might be other laws and service conditions at the state level that disallow
tuitions for secondary school teachers, which will continue to remain in force.
Can teachers be engaged in non-academic work as per the Act?
The Act bans all non-academic work by teachers, except that related to elections,
decennial census and disaster related tasks as per the notification by the Central
Government. Whereas census involves work once in ten years and disasters are
rare, increasingly frequent elections do keep teachers away from schools for long
periods of time, particularly for the preparation of electoral rolls. The Ministry of
Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India has notified guidelines for
the deployment of teachers for the purpose of elections and mentions the
following duties of teachers relating to the conduct of election.
Deployment on the days of poll and counting.
Attending the training and collection of election materials for such deployment.
The guidelines mention that all other duties relating to electoral roll revision will
be undertaken during holidays or during non-teaching hours or non-teaching
days.
What are the specific duties of the teacher as per the Act?
The specific duties of the teachers under this Act are:
 Maintain regularity and punctuality in the school.
 Complete entire curriculum within a specified time.
 Assess the learning ability of each child and provide supplementary
additional instruction if required.
33

Hold regular meetings with parents and apprise them of regularity in
attendance, learning abilities, progress and other issues concerning the
child.
Besides the above mentioned activities, the Kerala Rules specify the following
activities to be taken up by the teachers:
 Maintain a file containing the pupil-cumulative record for every child that
will be the basis of awarding the certificate of completion of the
elementary education.
 Participate in the training programmes organized by the academic
authority.
 Participate in curriculum formulation and development of syllabi, training
modules and text book development.
 Perform other such duties as may be specified from time to time.
24.
LET US SUM UP:
Education has an intrinsic value for the development of the society and helps in the
achievement of a better social order. Greater literacy and basic education help
individuals to make better use of available economic opportunities. The Government
has decided to make free and compulsory elementary education a fundamental right.
The Government has taken a major initiative by launching the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,
which aims at universalization of elementary education within a given time frame, in
partnership with states. However, it will have to be ensured that there is no
compromise on quality. In fact, the lessons learnt from all the successful programmes on
literacy should be made an integral part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on a continuous
basis.
The implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will result in a significant increase in
the number of children completing elementary education in the planning for education
and steps have to be taken to gradually strengthen the secondary schools along with
other facilities to keep pace with the increased demand.
It is important that the Centre make adequate provision of funds for the fulfilment of
the objectives of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and this has to be backed by a
complementary on the part of the states. Needless to say, the programme cannot
succeed without proper utilisation of the available funds. Effective methods have to be
evolved to transfer responsibility for funds and personnel to PRIs so as to assign greater
role to them as envisaged in the Constitution. Systematic mobilisation of the community
and creation of an effective system of decentralised Decision-making are essential prerequisites for the achievement of the objectives of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. This
involves the cooperation of all stakeholders— the central government, the states,
localgovernment bodies, teachers, parents, NGOs, academic institutions and the children
themselves.
There is also a need for capacity building at all levels to make the programme selfsustainable. The implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan with the involvement of
all the stakeholders must ultimately result in a transparent and broad-based system of
education.
Finally, the need to impart value-based education to the children at the early stages of
schooling can hardly be overemphasised. The essential elements of such education
should be based on the development of concern towards the needs of society and the
nation among the children.
34
In this contemporary world, the value should also be based on the functional utility of
education and should highlight the dignity of labour. The idea of creation of wealth
should be incorporated into the education system.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), reflects the
determination and resolve of the government to entitle every child to elementary
education.
25.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Q.No1) Explain the concept of elementary education.
Q.No2) Give the historical perspective of elementary education in India.
Q.No3) What are the important objectives of elementary education.
Q.No4) Discuss the important programmes and schemes for achieving universalization
of elementary education.
Q.No5) Discuss the role of community participation in elementary education and its
implications.
Q.No6) What are the challenges of achieving universal elementary education in India.
Q.No7) Explain the important features of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) with special
reference to girl child.
Q.No8) Explain District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and its implications on
UEE.
Q.No9) Give the brief review of past performance of elementary education in India.
Q.No10) Explain the literacy status of India with special reference to gender difference.
Q.No11) Describe the synergetic partnership with the private sector to achieve the
target of UEE
Q.No12) What is Right TO Education Act-2009 and what does it mean for India.
Q.No13) Explain the main features of J&K State Education Act-2002.
26.
REFERENCES
1. Annual Report of Education( 2010-11) Ministry of M.H.R.D, Govt. of India ,
New Delhi
2. Dyer, Caroline 1993 , Operation Black Board. Policy Implementation in
Indian
3. Educational statics at a Glance (2014) Govt. of India, M.H.R.D Bureau of
planning, Monitoring and Statics , New Delhi 2014.
35
4. Elementary Education. Unpublished Ph. D thesis of Edinburgh.
5. Govt. of India 2011 Census . Ministry of Home Affairs
http//www.censusindia.net/
6. Govt. of India (1986) National Policy on Education, New Delhi, M.H.R.D.
7. M.H.R.D (2011) Convention as the Right to the Child . New Delhi
8. National Policy of Education 1986. Department of Education, Ministry of
Human resource Development , Govt. Of India, New Delhi.
9. NCERT 1970. National Survey of Elementary Teacher Education in India,
New Delhi
10. NCERT 2002. Seventh All India Education Survey . Ministry of Human
Resource Development, Govt. Of India
11. NCERT 2005 . National Curriculum framework, NCERT New Delhi
12. NCPCR (2010) Main features of the Right to free and Compulsory Education
Act 2009, New Delhi
13. NUEPA (2011) Elementary Education in India; Progress towards UEE.
National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi.
14. Pratham 2012. Annual Status Education report. http//www.prathan.org
15. Thamarasseri, Ismail (2008) Early Child hood and Elementary Education,
New Delhi, Kanishka Publishers, New Delhi.
16. The Right of Children to free and compulsory Education Act, 2009 notified,
Press Information Bureau, 3rd September 2009. Retrieved 1st April 2010.
17. The J and K School Education Act 2002, Press Information Bureau of J&K
Govt.
36
M.A. Education Semester IV
37
M.A. EDUCATION
EDUE: 406 VALUE EDUCATION
UNIT I: VALUE EDUCATION
PREPARED BY: DINESH KUMAR K
Course objectives:
 To develop the understanding of Concept, Need and Importance of Value
Education
 To Know the Recommendations of various committees/commissions regarding
value education.
 To Understand various parameters of religious and moral education
 To understand the process of moral development with reference to thinkers
1. CONCEPT, NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF VALU EDUCATION
Values’ education is a term used to name several things, and there is much academic
controversy surrounding it. Some regard it as all aspects of the process by which
teachers (and other adults) transmit values to pupils. Others see it as an activity that
can take place in any organization during which people are assisted by others, who may
be older, in a position of authority or are more experienced, to make explicit those
values underlying their own behavior, to assess the effectiveness of these values and
associated behavior for their own and others’ long term well-being and to reflect on and
acquire other values and behavior which they recognize as being more effective for long
term well-being of self and others. This means that values education can take place at
home, as well as in schools, colleges, universities, offender institutions and voluntary
youth organizations. There are two main approaches to values education. Some see it as
inculcating or transmitting a set of values which often come from societal or religious
rules or cultural ethics.
Others see it as a type of Socratic dialogue where people are gradually brought to their
own realization of what is good behavior for themselves and their community. Value
education also leads to success. It has values of hard work, how nobody is useless and
loving studies.
38
1.1. Value: Meaning and Definition
The German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche first used the word ‘Values’ in 1880. Until
then the word value was used as a verb meaning to value as esteem something or as a
singular noun meaning the measure of something for example, the value of money, food
or labour. Nietzsche used the word ‘Values’ in plural to denote moral beliefs and
attitudes that were personal and subjective. In modern democratic society, this concept
of values has changed. The word ‘Values’ has come to be used in plurals for over a
century. As the world is becoming more civilized, education is becoming more or less
materialistic and to old value traditions are being slowly given up. It is an imperative
need in the present context of things that the whole of educational system should be
restructured to include value education in the process of education.
In Oxford Dictionary of English, value means worth and valueless means worthless.
From a historical viewpoint, a value may be defined as a thing that is good.
Operationally the concept of values may be defined as ‘factors which affect human
behavior’ intellectually, value may be defined as a concept which is accepted· by the
sub-conscious mind, is understood by all and perceived by the individual.
1.2. Objectives of Value Education:
 To improve the integral growth of human begins.
 To create attitudes and improvement towards sustainable lifestyle.
 To increase awareness about our national history our cultural heritage,
constitutional rights, national integration, community development and
environment.
 To create and develop awareness about the values and their significance and
role.
 To know about various living and non-living organisms and their interaction
with environment.
1.3. Explicit values education
Explicit values education is associated with those different pedagogies, methods or
programmes that teachers or educators use in order to create learning experiences for
students when it comes to value questions.
1.4. Implicit values education
Implicit values education on the other hand covers those aspects of the educational
experience resulting in value influence learning, which can be related to the concept of
hidden curriculum. This discussion on implicit and explicit raises the philosophical
problem of whether or not an unintentional action can be called education.
1.5. CATEGORIES OF VALUES
Personal Values: Personal values mean the desires of individual whatever they are in
the social relationship. Some of the personal values are excellence, honesty, selfconfidence, self-motivation, punctuality, ambition, courage, creativity, imagination etc.
Social Values: Individual cannot live in the world without having interaction with
others. People want social values like love, affection, friendship, peer group, reference
group, imparity, hospitality, courageous, service, justice, freedom, patience, forgiveness,
coordination, sympathy, tolerance etc. Social values are more important for healthy,
good environment for every organization.
Moral Values: Moral values impart respecting others and ourselves, respecting the
right of others, keeping promises avoiding unnecessary problems with others avoiding
cheating and dishonesty, showing gratitude to others and encourage them to work.
Spiritual values: The ultimate ethical value is called spiritual value. Spiritual values are
piety, meditation, yoga, self-discipline, control, purity, and devotion to God etc. Spiritual
39
values highlight the principles of self-restraint. Self discipline contentment, reduction of
wants, freedom from general greed and austerity.
Universal Values: It is universal values that indicate the essence of the human
condition. It is through Universal Values that we link ourselves with humanity and the
cosmos. Universal Values can be experienced as life, joy, brotherhood, love, compassion,
service, bliss, truth and eternity.
Cultural Values: Cultural values are concerned with right and wrong, good and bad,
customs and behavior. Cultural values are reflected in language, ethics, social hierarchy,
aesthetics, education, law, economics, philosophy and social institutions of every kind.
After classifying values, we must be determining which of the above values are most
meaningful. Universal values are at the top of the list. The others have their place but it
is through Universal values that we experience a sense of oneness with the human race
Universal values must be our foundation if we are to enjoy a rich, profound, fulfilling
life.
1.6. Role of Value Education in Educational Setting
UNESCO organized a ‘Values in Education’ Summit in 1998, to encourage schools to
review their curricula in terms of value education. The fact that a world body like
UNESCO should stress on the need of teaching ‘values’ in the school system is in itself a
statement of the gravity of the problems created by gradual disappearance of a civil
society and the preservation of democracy.
Value education, both formal and informal, may encourage students to:
 Develop their own personal moral codes and have a concern for others.
 Reflect on experiences and search for meaning and patterns in their experiences.
 Have self respect and respect for commonly held values such as honesty,
truthfulness and justice.
 Make socially responsible judgments and to be able to provide justification of
decision and actions.
With regard to teachers:
 Teachers are predominant in theoretical, social, religious and economic values.
 Gender, educational training, and experience do not influence teachers’ values.
 Teachers of urban schools have higher moral and economic values than the rural
schools. So, location of the school influences teachers’ values.
 Teachers differ in their values because of the type of schools and as such it
influences the students’ values also.
 The age influences the teachers’ aesthetic values.
 Co-curricular activities provided and the practice followed in inculcating values
to students influence students’ value.
1.7. Teaching Values – An Experiment in Education
Education is a process that starts at the next moment of birth of every child. Education
did not just mean teaching the students how to read, write and get a job. It also included
developing the personality of the student to make him, an ideal citizen. So value
education is education in values and education towards the inculcation of values.
Different aims of education can be listed as follows:
 To impart the practical knowledge, necessary to level a useful life.
 To preserve, transmit and enhance the values from one generation to another.
 To create new values.
40
 To boost self-expression, self-preservation and. self-confidence.
 To help individual to adjust physically and mentally.
 To enable individuals to control environment and fulfil responsibilities.
 To eradicate communal and social disharmony
 To develop problem solving abilities and positive approaches to life
 To utilize limited resource effectively for better achievements.
Education should train the student to recognize moral values. Teachers, leaders and the
society should bet samples before students and should join their hands in creating
suitable atmosphere for practicing moral qualities. Teacher should protect the students
from the evil influence of the society.
It is easy to talk about value, a beautiful article may also be written on how values
should be developed, how an individual should live etc. The crux of the problem is how
to practice rather than preaching values. Evaluation of the value attainment is a more
complex phenomenon than it appears.
Essence of Curriculum for Value Education in Schools
 Education for human values should be considered as a central core in the entire
life of the school and outside school also.
 Some aspect of human values can be dealt within the prescribed periods of the
time table, but most of the vital aspects have to be kept in view and dealt within
the whole school and home life as occasions arise.
 Some of the aspects can be taken in the larger functions of the whole school like
daily school prayer, social service camps, sports meet, festival days, special days
in memory of great people, National Days, etc.
 All teachers are teachers of human values at all times of school like, practicing
what they teach or preach
 Internalization of value in thought, word and deed, is the goal and not mere
knowledge of it.
The Parameters of Empowerment
Values are individual as well as social. The values are concerned with two dimensions of
human person.
 Person as self – physical, spiritual, intellectual and moral values
 Person in community – social, economic and political values.
The parameters of empowerment of learners are:
 Building a positive self-image and self-confidence in learners.
 To enhance critical and reflective thinking.
 Building social cohesion and Fostering creativity, problem solving and reasoning.
 Ensuring equal participation in the process of bringing about social change.
 Encouraging individual or group action to bring about positive attitudinal change
in the society.
Guidelines for Proper Value Orientation
 Develop Gandhian Values among the students.
 Perceive his role as an agent of change in the community.
 Perceive his role not only as a leader of children but also that of a guide to the
community.
 Act as a link between the school and the community.
 Possess warm and positive attitude towards growing children and their
academic, social-emotional and personal problems
41

The preservation of environmental resources and preservation of historical
monuments and other cultural heritage.
 Develop understanding of the objective school education in the Indian context
and awareness of the role of school in achieving the goals of building up a
democratic secular and socialist society. .
 Develop understanding interests, attitudes and skills that would enable him to
foster all round growth and development of the children under his care.
 Develop competence to teach on the basis of the accepted principles of teaching
and learning.
 The teacher should be a mediator in the encounter between the individual and
the mass of information.
Empowering Learners by Inculcating Values
Value education has a capacity to transform a diseased mind into a very young, fresh,
innocent, healthy, natural and attentive mind. The transformed mind is capable of
higher sensitivity and a heightened level of perception. This leads to fulfillment of the
evolutionary role in man and in life.
Education in very general terms is a process of bringing about desirable changes of
behavior in the learners, in accordance with standard norm, which is concept of good
life. Students may develop some essential values through various curricular and cocurricular activities in the school. Teachers are responsible for inculcating new values
and for developing the total personality of the learners. Before devising a plan for
imparting value education for the empowerment of learners it is imperative to decide
what teachers ought to develop and how to develop, in other words a teacher must
know the content of value oriented education and should· be in position to adopt
various approaches strategies and methods for inculcating values and for the
empowerment of learners.
2. HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION
Human rights education is all learning that develops the knowledge, skills, and values of
human rights. A history lesson on the women's suffrage movement, the civil rights
movement, or the Holocaust can be a human rights lesson if the teacher encourages
students to see universal principles of dignity and equality at stake in these events. An
advocacy group's efforts to address hunger in the community through outreach and
legislation can become human rights lessons. A shelter's provision of protection to the
homeless or victims of domestic violence can also educate both those who offer services
and those who need them. Any day care facility, classroom, or nonprofit organization
that promotes respect, fairness, and dignity is instilling human rights values, even if
they are not identified as such.
Efforts to define human rights education in the 1950s and 60s emphasized cognitive
learning for young people in a formal school setting. By the 1970s, most educators had
extended the concept to include critical thinking skills and concern or empathy for those
who have experienced violation of their rights. However, the focus remained on schoolbased education for youth with little or no attention to personal responsibility or action
to promote and defend rights or effect social change.
2.1. The Right to Know Your Rights
The mandate for human rights education is unequivocal: you have a human right to
know your rights. The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
exhorts "every individual and every organ of society" to "strive by teaching and
education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms." Article 30 of the UDHR
42
declares that one goal of education should be "the strengthening of respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms." According to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), a government "may not stand in the way of people's learning
about [their rights]."
 HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION declares a commitment to those human rights
expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the UN
Covenants, and the United States Bill of Rights. It asserts the responsibility to
respect, protect, and promote the rights of all people.
 HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION promotes democratic principles. It examines
human rights issues without bias and from diverse perspectives through a
variety of educational practices.
 HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION helps to develop the communication skills and
informed critical thinking essential to a democracy. It provides multicultural and
historical perspectives on the universal struggle for justice and dignity.
 HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION engages the heart as well as the mind. It challenges
students to ask what human rights mean to them personally and encourages
them to translate caring into informed, nonviolent action.
 HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION affirms the interdependence of the human family.
It promotes understanding of the complex global forces that create abuses, as
well as the ways in which abuses can be abolished and avoided.
2.2. The UN Decade for Human Rights Education
Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration, the United Nations General Assembly
has called on Member States and all segments of society to disseminate and educate
about this fundamental document. In 1993 the World Conference on Human Rights in
Vienna reaffirmed the importance of human rights education, training and public
information, declaring it "essential for the promotion and achievement of stable and
harmonious relations among communities and for fostering mutual understanding,
tolerance and peace."4 In response to an appeal by this World Conference, the General
Assembly proclaimed the period 1995 to 2004 the UN Decade for Human Rights
Education.
In proclaiming the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education in December
1994, the General Assembly defined human rights education as "a life-long process by
which people at all levels of development and in all strata of society learn respect for the
dignity of others and the means and methods of ensuring that respect in all societies."5
The Assembly emphasized that the responsibility for human rights education rested
with all elements of society--government, nongovernmental organizations, professional
associations, and all other sectors of civil society, as well as individuals.
The Plan of Action for the Decade further defines human rights education as "training,
dissemination and information efforts aimed at the building of a universal culture of
human rights through the imparting of knowledge and skills and the molding of
attitudes which are directed to:
 The strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
 The full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity;
 The promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality, and friendship
among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and
linguistic groups;
 The enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free society;
 The furtherance of the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
peace."
43
During this Decade, the UN is urging and supporting all its Member States to make
information about human rights available to everyone through both the formal school
system and popular and adult education.
2.3. What is Human Rights Education?
Simply put, human rights education is all learning that develops the knowledge, skills,
and values of human rights.
The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) has defined
Human Rights Education as "training, dissemination, and information efforts aimed at
the building of a universal culture of human rights through the imparting of knowledge
and skills and the molding of attitudes which are directed to:
 The strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
 The full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity;
 The promotion of understanding, respect, gender equality, and friendship among
all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and
linguistic groups;
 The enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free society;
 The furtherance of the activities of the United Nations for the Maintenance of
Peace." (Adapted from the Plan of Action of the United Nations Decade for
Human Rights Education (1995-2004), paragraph 2)
During this Decade, the UN is urging and supporting all member states to make
knowledge about human rights available to everyone through both the formal school
system and through popular and adult education.
2.4. The Goals of Human Rights Education
 Human rights education teaches both about human rights and for human rights.
 Its goal is to help people understand human rights, value human rights, and take
responsibility for respecting, defending, and promoting human rights. An
important outcome of human rights education is empowerment, a process
through which people and communities increase their control of their own lives
and the decisions that affect them. The ultimate goal of human rights education is
people working together to bring about human rights, justice, and dignity for all.
 Education about human rights provides people with information about human
rights. It includes learning –about the inherent dignity of all people and their
right to be treated with respect about human rights principles, such as the
universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of human rights
 about how human rights promote participation in decision making and the
peaceful resolution of conflicts
 about the history and continuing development of human rights
 about international law, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the
Convention on the Rights of the Child
 about regional, national, state, and local law that reinforces international human
rights law
 about using human rights law to protect human rights and to call violators to
account for their actions
 about human rights violations such as torture, genocide, or violence against
women and the social, economic, political, ethnic, and gender forces which cause
them
 about the persons and agencies that are responsible for promoting, protecting,
and respecting human rights
44

Education for human rights helps people feel the importance of human rights,
internalize human rights values, and integrate them into the way they live. These
human rights values and attitudes include –
 "strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" (UDHR
Article 30.2)
 nurturing respect for others, self-esteem, and hope
 understanding the nature of human dignity and respecting the dignity of others
 empathizing with those whose rights are violated and feeling a sense of
solidarity with them
 recognizing that the enjoyment of human rights by all citizens is a precondition
to a just and humane society
 perceiving the human rights dimension of civil, social, political, economic, and
cultural issues and conflicts both in the US and other countries
 valuing non-violence and believing that cooperation is better than conflict
 Education for human rights also gives people a sense of responsibility for
respecting and defending human rights and empowers them through skills to
take appropriate action. These skills for action include –
 recognizing that human rights may be promoted and defended on an individual,
collective, and institutional level
 developing critical understanding of life situations
 analyzing situations in moral terms
 realizing that unjust situations can be improved
 recognizing a personal and social stake in the defense of human rights
 analyzing factors that cause human rights violations
 knowing about and being able to use global, regional, national, and local human
rights instruments and mechanisms for the protection of human rights
 strategizing appropriate responses to injustice
 acting to promote and defend human rights
2.5. Who Needs Human Rights Education?
Human rights should be part of everyone’s education. However, certain groups have a
particular need for human rights education: some because they are especially
vulnerable to human rights abuses, others because they hold official positions and
upholding human rights is their responsibility, still others because of their ability to
influence and educate. Among these groups are the following:
Administrators of Justice:
1. law enforcement personnel, including police and security forces
2. prison officials
3. lawyers, judges, and prosecutors
Other Government and Legislative Officials:
1. members of the legislature
2. public officials, elected and appointed
3. members of the military
Other Professionals:
1. educators
2. social workers
3. health professionals
4. journalists and media representatives
5. Organizations, Associations, and Groups
45
6. women’s organizations
7. community activists and civic leaders
8. minority groups
9. members of the business community
10. trade unionists
11. indigenous peoples
12. religious leaders and others with a special interest in social justice issues
13. children and youth
14. students at all levels of education
15. refugees and displaced persons
16. people of all sexual orientations
17. poor people, whether in cities or
18. people with disabilities
rural areas
3. RECCOMENDATIONS OF DIFFERENT COMMISSION
3.1. KOTHARI COMMISSION: EDUCATION ON SOCIAL, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL
VALUES
A serious defect in the school curriculum is the absence of provision for education in
social, moral and spiritual values. In the life of the majority of Indians, religion is a great
motivating force and is intimately bound up with the formation of character and the
inculcation of ethical values. A national system of education that is related to the life,
needs and aspirations of the people cannot afford to ignore this purposeful force. We
recommend therefore that conscious and organized attempts be made for imparting
education in social, moral and spiritual value with the help, wherever possible, of the
ethical teaching of great religions.
Education through Indirect Methods: This education, we believe, should be provided,
both by direct and indirect methods, by suggestion as well as by discussion and
teaching. We attach great importance to the role of indirect influence in building up
good character. The school atmosphere, the personality and behaviour of the teachers,
the facilities provided in the school, will have a large say in developing a sense of values.
We would like to emphasize that the consciousness of values must permeate the whole
curriculum and the programme of activities in the school. It is not only the teachers in
charge of moral instruction who are responsible for building character. Every teacher,
whatever be the subject he teaches, must necessarily accept this responsibility. He must
ensure that, in the teaching of his particular subject and in his dealings with his pupils,
fundamental values such as integrity and social responsibility are brought out. The
teacher need not, we can even say that he should not, try to draw out the underlying
moral all the time; but if he has given some thought to the values underlying the scope
of his subject and his work as a teacher, they will imperceptibly pass into his teaching
and make an impact on the minds of his students. Moreover, a sense of purpose should
inspire all school activities and must be reflected in the life, tone and atmosphere of the
school.
The school assembly, the curricular and co-curricular activities, the celebration of
religious festivals of all religions, work-experience, team games and sports, subject
clubs, social service programmes-all these can help in inculcating the values of
cooperation and mutual regard, honesty and integrity, discipline and social
responsibility. These values have a special significance in Indian society today, when
young men and women are passing through a crisis of character.
Direct Instruction of Moral Values. In addition to this indirect approach for
inculcating moral and spiritual values, we consider that specific provision for direct
46
moral instruction in the school programmes is highly desirable. We agree with the
recommendation of the Sri Prakasa Committee that one or two periods a week should
be set aside in the school time-table for instruction in moral and spiritual values. At the
primary stage such instruction will generally be imparted through interesting stories,
including stories drawn from the great religions of the world. At the secondary stage,
Report of the Committee on Religious and Moral Instruction, Ministry of Education,
Government of India, New Delhi, 1960.
there may be frequent discussions between the teacher and the pupils on the values
sought to be inculcated. Whatever be the method of teaching, it should not lead to moral
instruction being divorced from the rest of the curriculum or being confined to a single
period. If the values are to become a part of the student's character, an all- embracing
treatment of the moral way of life is needed.
Relation between Moral Values and Religion. There will be natural points of
correlation between the moral values sought to be inculcated and the teachings of the
great religions. Stories drawn from the great religions of the world will be most
appropriate in a discussion of moral values and of problems in life. All religions stress
certain fundamental qualities of character, such as honesty and truthfulness,
consideration for others, reverence for old age, kindness to animals, and compassion for
the needy and the suffering. In the literature of every religion, the story or parable
figures prominently as a means of impressing an ethical value on the followers. The
narration of such stories by the teachers at the right moment in the programme of
moral education would be most effective, particularly in the lower classes.
At a later stage, accounts of the lives of great religious and spiritual leaders will find a
natural place. Some of these may be included in the study of social studies or literature,
but it is essential that all important religions are represented properly in the
programme. Similarly, the celebration of the festivals of different religions will afford
opportunities for the narration of incidents from the life history of the leaders of these
religions. In the last two years of the secondary school, a great religious.
1.2. NATIONAL POLICY OF EDUCATION 1986-1992
The National System of Education will be based on a national curricular framework
which contains a common core along with other components that are flexible. The
common core will include the history of India's freedom movement, the constitutional
obligations and other content essential to nurture national identity. These elements will
cut across subject areas and will be designed to promote values such as India's common
cultural heritage, egalitarianism, democracy and secularism, equality of the sexes,
protection of the environment, removal of social barriers, observance of the small
family norm and inculcation of the scientific temper. All educational programmes will
be carried on in strict conformity with secular values. India has always worked for
peace and understanding between nations, treating the whole world as one family. True
to this hoary tradition, Education has to strengthen this world view and motivate the
younger generations for international co-operation and peaceful co-existence. This
aspect cannot be neglected.
The growing concern over the erosion of essential values and an increasing cynicism in
society has brought to focus the need for readjustments in the curriculum in order to
make education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values. In our
culturally plural society, education should foster universal and eternal values, oriented
towards the unity and integration of our people. Such value education should help
eliminate obscurantism, religious fanaticism, violence, superstition and fatalism. Apart
from this combative role, value education has a profound positive content, based on our
47
heritage, national and universal goals and perceptions. It should lay primary emphasis
on this aspect.
1.3. NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK-2005- EDUCATION FOR PEACE
We live in an age of unprecedented levels of violence, with constant threats posed by
intolerance, fanaticism, dispute and discordance. Ethical action, peace and welfare are
facing new challenges. War and violence occur due to unresolved conflicts, though
conflicts may not always lead to violence and war. Violence is one of the many possible
responses to conflict. Non-violent conflict-resolution skills could be nurtured and
applied constructively to disputes between the individuals, groups and nations. The
space for peace education within the framework of National School Curriculum
document is compellingly clear in the light of the escalating trends of, and taste for,
violence globally, nationally and locally. Education is a significant dimension of the longterm process of building up peace – tolerance, justice, intercultural understanding and
civic responsibility. However, education as practised in schools often promotes forms of
violence, both real and symbolic. Under these circumstances, the need to reorient
education and therefore the school curriculum takes priority. As a value, it cuts across
all other curricular areas, and coincides with and complements the values emphasised
therein. It is, therefore, a concern cutting across the curriculum and is the concern of all
teachers. Education for peace seeks to nurture ethical development, inclucating the
values, attitudes and skills required for living in harmony with oneself and with others,
including nature. It embodies the joy of living and personality development with the
qualities of love, hope and courage. It encompasses respect for human rights, justice,
tolerance, cooperation, social responsibility, and respect for cultural diversity, in
addition to a firm commitment to democracy and non-violent conflict resolution. Social
justice is an important aspect of peace education. The concern for equality and social
justice, which refers to practising non-exploitation towards the have-nots, the poor and
the underprivileged and creating a non-violent social system, is the hallmark of
education for peace.
Similarly, human rights are central to the concept of peace. Peace cannot prevail if the
rights of individuals are violated. Basic to human rights are the values of nondiscrimination and equality, which contribute to building a culture of peace in society.
These issues are inter related. Peace education is thus a host of overlapping values.
Peace education must be a concern that permeates the entire school life – curriculum,
co-curriculum, classroom environment, school management, teacher-pupil relationship,
teaching-learning processes, and the entire range of school activities. Hence, it is
important to examine the curriculum and examination system from the point of view of
how they may contribute to children's sense of inadequacy, frustration, impatience and
insecurity. Also, the need to consciously counter the negative influence of the increasing
violence around them, and its representation in the media, on the minds of children, and
in its place promote a reflective engagement with more meaningful aspects of living an
ethical and peaceful life. Education in the true sense should empower individuals to
clarify their values; to enable them to take conscious and deliberate decisions, taking
into consideration the consequences of their actions; to choose the way of peace rather
than violence; to enable them to be makers of peace rather than only consumers of
peace.
Suggestions for Peace Activities
 Set up special clubs and reading rooms in schools that concentrate on peace
news and events that violate the norms of social justice and equality.
48

Compile a list of films — documentaries and feature films— that promote the
values of justice and peace. Screen them from time to time in schools.
 Co-opt the media as a stakeholder in education for peace. Invite influential
journalists and editors to address children. Ask for space in news papers and
journals for children’s views to be published at least once a month.
 Celebrate the cultural and religious diversity of India in schools.
 Organise programmes to promote an attitude of respect and responsibility
towards women.
Activities for Peace Awareness
Age 5 + Handle with Care: Let children stand in a row. Give them a paper leaf of a teak
tree or canna or banana plant. Let them pass the leaf over their heads in any way they
want until it reaches the back of the row. A child then brings the leaf to the front and the
cycle starts again. Children are then asked to look at the damage caused to the leaf as it
has been handled. This activity could lead to a discussion about leaves and the different
trees from which they come from. Damage to a single leaf is representative of damaging
nature. The leaf stands for the whole of creation.
Age 7+ Sharing Feelings: Let children sit in a circle and ask each other, “Which was the
happiest day in your life? Why was it so happy?” Let each child answer the question. Let
some of the children role play one or more of the experiences. As, children become more
familiar with the idea of sharing their feelings, ask more difficult questions such as
“What makes you really afraid? Why do you feel that way? How do you feel when you
watch someone fighting? Why do you feel that way? What makes you really sad? Why?”
Age 10 + Overcome Injustice with Justice: Explain that there are many reasons for
injustice in this world, that justice is a basic means for creating peace in the world. Give
two or three examples of injustice. Ask the children to give more examples. Then ask the
questions: “What was the cause of the injustice? How would you feel in the same
situation?” Have the class.
Age 12 + Be a Peace Lawyer: Tell the children that they are peace lawyers drawing up
peace laws for a country. List five of the most important laws that they would each
suggest? Which of the laws suggested by others are you prepared to add to your list?
Which laws are you not prepared to accept? Why not?
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REFERENCES (BOOKS/URL)
Bajpai, Amita (1991). Fifth survey of Educational Research, 1988 -92, M.B. Buch,
Volume, 2, Pg.1333, NCERT, Sri AurobindoMarg, New Delhi.
MohitChakrabarti (1997). ‘Value Education: Changing Perspectives’, New Delhi:
Kanishka Publishers.
Prem Singh, G.J. (2004). ‘Towards Value Based Education’, University News. Vol. 42
(45): P.11-12.
RIMSE (1999). Value Education: An outline. Mysore, P.3-9.
49
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Sandhya, N. (1999). ‘An Evaluative study of Value Education Provided at the S.S.L.C.
Level in Mysore District.’ Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Education, University of Mysore,
Mysore.
Stephenson, J. et al., (1998). ‘Value Education’, London: Routledge
https://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/hrhandbook/part1B.htm
https://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/hereandnow/Part-2/HREintro.htm
http://www.ncert.nic.in/oth_anoun/npe86.pdf
http://www.ncert.nic.in/rightside/links/pdf/framework/english/nf2005.pdf
50
M.A. EDUCATION
EDUE: 406 VALUE EDUCATION
UNIT-II NATURE AND CONCEPT OF
MORALITY AND MORAL EDUCATION
PREPARED BY: DINESH KUMAR K
1. CONCEPT OF MORAL EDUCATION AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Religious and moral education is a process where children and young people engage in
a search for meaning, value and purpose in life. This involves both the exploration of
beliefs and values and the study of how such beliefs and values are expressed. Moral
education, however, is generally understood to cut across the curriculum and is
appropriately integrated into all courses as well as into the extra-curricular activities
and ethos of schools.
1.1. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in
England the term religious instruction would refer to the teaching of a particular
religion, with religious education referring to teaching about religions in general) and
its varied aspects: its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles. In
Western and secular culture, religious education implies a type of education which is
largely separate from academia, and which (generally) regards religious belief as a
fundamental tenet and operating modality, as well as a prerequisite for attendance.
Key concepts
There are a number of key concepts that underpin the study of RE. Pupils need to
understand these concepts in order to deepen and broaden their knowledge, skills and
understanding.
 Beliefs, teachings and sourcesa Interpreting teachings, sources, authorities and
ways of life in order to understand religions and beliefs. b Understanding and
responding critically to beliefs and attitudes.
 Practices and ways of lifea Exploring the impact of religions and beliefs on how
people live their lives. b Understanding that religious practices are diverse,
change over time and are influenced by cultures.
 Expressing meaninga Appreciating that individuals and cultures express their
beliefs and values through many different forms. Religions and beliefs: These
include systems of thought that are religious and non-religious, theistic and nontheistic, Western and Eastern, Abrahamic and dharmic.
 Identity, diversity and belonginga Understanding how individuals develop a
sense of identity and belonging through faith or belief. b Exploring the variety,
difference and relationships that exist within and between religions, values and
beliefs.
51

Meaning, purpose and trutha Exploring some of the ultimate questions that
confront humanity, and responding imaginatively to them.
 Values and commitmentsa Understanding how moral values and a sense of
obligation can come from beliefs and experience. b Evaluating their own and
others’ values in order to make informed, rational and imaginative choices.
Key processes:
These are the essential skills and processes in RE that pupils need to learn to make
progress.
Learning about religion Pupils should be able to:
 investigate the impact of religious beliefs and teachings on individuals,
communities and societies, the reasons for commitment and the causes of
diversity
 apply a wide range of religious and philosophical vocabulary consistently and
accurately, recognising both the power and limitations of language in expressing
religious ideas and beliefs
 explain religious beliefs, practices and commitments, including their
transmission by people, texts and traditions
 evaluate how religious beliefs and teachings inform answers to ultimate
questions and ethical issues e interpret a range of sources, texts, authorities, and
forms of religious and spiritual expression from a variety of contexts f analyse
religious beliefs, arguments and ideas
Learning from religion Pupils should be able to:
 Reflect on the relationship between beliefs, teachings, world issues and ultimate
questions
 Evaluate beliefs, commitments and the impact of religion in the contemporary
world
 Express insights into the significance and value of religion and other world views
for human relationships personally, locally and globally
 Express their own beliefs and ideas, using a variety of forms of expression,
including creative forms and reasoned arguments.
Range and content
This section outlines the breadth of the subject on which teachers should draw when
teaching the key concepts and key processes. The study of RE should include:
 Christianity
 At least two other principal religions
 A religious community of local significance, where appropriate
 A secular world view, where appropriate.
All of the above can be taught through the following themes:
 Beliefs and concepts: the key ideas and questions of meaning in religions and
beliefs, including issues related to God, truth, the world, human life, and life after
death
 Authority: different sources of authority and how they inform believers’ lives
 Religion and science: issues of truth, explanation, meaning and purpose
 Expressing spirituality: how and why understanding of the self and human
experiences is expressed in a variety of forms
 Ethics and relationships: questions and influences that inform ethical and moral
choices, including forgiveness and issues of good and evil
52



Rights and responsibilities: what religions and beliefs say about human rights
and responsibilities, social justice and citizenship
Global issues – what religions and beliefs say about health, wealth, war, animal
rights and the environment
Interfaith dialogue – a study of relationships, conflicts and collaboration within
and between religions and beliefs.
Curriculum opportunities
During the key stage pupils should be offered the following opportunities that are
integral to their learning and enhance their engagement with the concepts, processes
and content of the subject. The curriculum should provide opportunities for pupils to:
 Encounter people from different religious, cultural and philosophical groups,
who can express a range of convictions on religious and moral issues, where
possible
 Visit places of major religious significance, where possible
 Use ICT to enhance understanding of religion
 Discuss, question and evaluate important issues in religion and philosophy,
including ultimate questions and ethical issues
 Reflect upon and carefully evaluate their own and others’ beliefs and values,
using reasoned, balanced arguments
 Use a range of forms of expression to communicate their ideas and responses
 Explore the connections between re and other subject areas.
1.2. MORAL EDUCATION
Interpretations of the process of moral education are quite differentiated and subject to
change, according to the modality of the study of moral phenomenon (and its
components), and the consistency of the cognitive results of this study. On the other
hand, moral education cannot ignore lack of moral education among youth and grownups, as a result of not mastering or of incorrect use of moral language.
We define the concept of moral education by taking into account two components of
moral life: the objective component (social-axiological), and the subjective component
(psychological), that is, human behavior and the development of its features. According
to these components, we can formulate extremely various objectives of this education
and can analyze their connections with one or another form of education (intellectual,
civil, political, professional, ecological, religious, etc.). Thus, we can move beyond simple
opinions that emphasize one or another component of moral life.
If we adopt a social-axiological position, the objective of moral education is considered
to be the knowledge of moral values and their capitalization by a subject or a
community for an active and responsible integration, against such moral non-values as
evil, hypocrisy, cowardliness, moral opportunism, etc.
If we deal only with the psychological component of moral education, its objective is
moral behavior, within such diversity of its manifestations in human relations as moral
feelings and expectations, moral motives and interests, acting out one’s likes and
decisions. By its two dimensions (social and psychological), this kind of behavior has
particular features and a structure of its own. Namely, as a functional modification of a
few psychic processes (cognitive, emotional and psycho-motor), moral behavior is
expressed in an emotional form (voice, mime, gesture, motor and vegetative acts), a
relational one (devotion to other people and a special way of communicating with them,
53
depending on the opinion about oneself and the others’ opinion about one as a person),
and a standard social-cultural form related to the historical situation of society from the
point of view of culture and civilization in which it is present (for example, the way of
congratulating someone on success, the way of appealing to officials or of making
critical remarks, by uttering moral opinions or disagreements, etc.). This behavior can
be defined by sincerity or lack of sincerity, by relational balance or lack of balance, and
by reciprocity (the same requests and expectations from other moral subjects) or, on
the contrary, the lack of reciprocity.
2.1. MORAL EDUCATION VIS-À-VIS RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
 Is concerned with the spiritual growth of the pupil, with those feelings
 And beliefs which arise out of experience and which influence the search for me
aning, valueand purpose in life.for some, namely the denominational schools, suc
h experience will be interpreted within their own tradition.
 Encourage pupils to become aware of a wide range of
religious interpretations of personal experience and of their importance to belie
vers
 Fosters attitudes of open enquiry and awareness of prejudice
 Helps pupils to appreciate that religion offers a distinctive interpretation
of life. It also encourages them to think honestly for themselves about religious
beliefs and practice and the implications of moral issues within religions
 Makes a distinctive contributionto the curriculum in helping pupils towards a co
nsistent set of beliefs, values, attitude and practices. Other aspects of the school
ethos and curriculum also aim to help pupils in their search for answers to some
of life’s deepest questions
Religious and Moral Education should encourage pupils over their school life to:
 recognise religion as an important expression of human experience
 reflect on and respond to the values, beliefs and practices of religious
 traditions within our community and beyond
 be aware of the practical consequences of religious commitment
 evaluate and in turn, confirm, deepen or come to their own
 understanding of the meaning, value and purpose of life
3.1. LANGUAGE AND MORAL EDUCATION: ITS FORM AND CONTEXT
Romanian research on language linguistics and philosophy appreciates that the
meaning of a term refers to "all its possibilities . . . of meaning: objects, actions, ideas,
phenomena. They awaken representations in our minds, as well as make connections
among these representations." The meaning of a word is determined by three factors:
 Objective reality to which the word is related;
 The way in which the speaker sees this objective reality, and
 The way in which the speaker makes use of the word, namely the exchange value
of the word".
On this basis, there is the idea of a general subdivision of the terminology of moral
language into practical terms (moral relation, moral interest, moral action), standardaxiological term (moral value, moral rule, moral sense, moral choice, moral decision),
and behavior-estimating and instrumental terms (moral judgment, moral estimation,
moral opinion, moral punishment, moral habit, moral routine, etc.).
A second remark concerns the correct or incorrect use of the terminology of moral
language depending on their supposed meaning and the intentions or objectives of the
person using it. According to C. L. Stevenson, moral language can be used in two
54
directions: one for remembering, explaining and communicating certain opinions or for
trying to change the interest of another person, and another for stimulating people to
action or to a certain behavior.
Thus, there is a double use of moral language: a descriptive one and a suggestive one
(which emphasizes something worthy) in which moral terms are "devices used in the
complicated game of adjustment and readjustment of human interests."10 These uses
are accompanied by various moral statements or sentences both descriptive and
permissive. The diversity of moral statements helps us to understand a lot of attitudes
related to their truthfulness or falsity. For example, moral falsity is seen by Richard
Harell as connected to the incorrect use of moral terms, so that in order to find out
whether someone behaves this way, we should find out if he lets us know what is true
or speaks deliberately in a false manner. So we should distinguish the correct uses of
moral language from false statements, whether deliberate or not, even if it is difficult to
make this distinction.
3.2. Characteristics of Morally Mature Person
What kind of human being do we want to emerge from our efforts at moral education?
What are the characteristics of the morally mature person? A moment's reflection tells
us that moral maturity is more than just knowing what is right. The world is full of
people who know what right but set moral considerations are aside when they find it
expedient to do so. To be moral means to value morality, to take moral obligations
seriously. It means to be able to judge what is right but also to care deeply about doing
it—and to possess the will, competence, and habits needed to translate moral judgment
and feeling into effective moral We submit that the morally mature person has six major
characteristics, which are derived from universal moral and democratic principles.
These characteristics offer schools and communities a context for discourse about
school programs and moral
The morally mature person habitually:
1. Respects human dignity, which includes
 Snowing regard for the worth and rights of all persons,
 Avoiding deception and dishonesty,
 Promoting human equality,
 Respecting freedom of conscience,
 Working with people of different views, and
 Refraining from prejudiced actions.
2. Cares about the welfare of others, which includes
 Recognizing interdependence among people,
 Caring for one's country,
 Seeking social justice,
 Taking pleasure in helping others, and
 Working to help others reach moral maturity.
3. Integrates individual interests and social responsibilities, which includes
 Becoming involved in community life,
 Doing a fair share of community work,
 Displaying self-regarding and other-regarding moral virtues—self-control,
 Diligence, fairness, kindness, honesty, civility—in everyday fife,
 Fulfilling commitments, and
 Developing self-esteem through relationships with others.
4. Demonstrates integrity, which includes
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 Practicing diligence,
 Taking stands for moral principles,
 Displaying moral courage,
 Knowing when 10 compromise and when to confront, and
 Accepting responsibility for one's choices.
5. Reflects on moral choices, which includes
 Recognizing the moral issues involved in a situation,
 Applying moral principles (such as the golden rule) when making moral
 Judgments,
 Thinking about the consequences of decisions, and to be informed about
important moral issues in society and the world.
6. Seeks peaceful resolution of conflict, which includes
 Striving for the fair resolution of personal and social conflicts,
 Avoiding physical and verbal aggression,
 Listening carefully to others,
 Encouraging others to communicate, and
 Working for peace.
In general, then, the morally mature person understands moral principles accepts
responsibility for applying them.
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4.1. JUSTICE AND CARE: MARTHA NAUSSBAUM
The Basic Idea about Human Beings
Martha Naussbaum affirms a "liberal" view that is compatible with the feminist
affirmation of the value of women as persons. "At the heart of this tradition [of liberal
political thought] is a twofold intuition about human beings: namely, that all, just by
being human, are of equal dignity and worth, no matter where they are situated in
society, and that the primary source of this worth is a power of moral choice within
them, a power that consists in the ability to plan a life in accordance with one's own
evaluation of ends." To these two ideas is linked one more, that "the moral equality of
persons gives them a fair claim to certain types of treatment at the hands of society and
politics. respect and promote the liberty of choice, and ...respect and promote the equal
worth of persons as choosers."
Nussbaum's view holds that "the core of rational and moral personhood is something all
human beings share, shaped though it may be in different ways by their differing social
circumstances. And it does give this core a special salience in political thought, defining
the public realm in terms of it, purposefully refusing the same salience ... to gender and
rank and class and religion." Her approach to women's issues is "part of a systematic
and justifiable program that addresses hierarchy across the board in the name of human
dignity." Her view is that political theory should be based on "the conception of human
beings as essentially rational agents." The key type of reason to be emphasized is
practical (i.e., moral and political) reason.
The Role of Capabilities (Substantial Freedoms)
At the heart of Nussbaum's liberal theory of justice and human rights is AmartyaSen's
concept of substantial freedoms or capabilities. Sen developed this notion as a way of
addressing questions of justice and human development. (For more on Sen's ideas see
The Ethics of Substantial Freedom.) Before we can talk intelligently about just
distributions, we have to decide on a dimension whose relative value is important. If, for
example, equal distribution is just, we have to know equal distribution of what? In
relation to human development, specifically, poverty, the question is to know precisely
what we should be striving to increase.
The Basic Capabilities
A necessary component of Nussbaum's capability approach is the list of basic
capabilities. She asks an Aristotelian question, "What activities characteristically
performed by human beings are so central that they seem definitive of the a life that is
truly human?" Two more precise questions are then formulated, (1) "Which changes or
transitions are compatible with the continued existence of a being as a member of the
human kind and which are not?" and (2) "What kinds of activity must be there if we are
going to acknowledge that a given life is human?"
 Life. Being able to live to the end of a human life of normal length . . .
 Bodily health and integrity.
 Bodily integrity. Being able to move freely from place to place; being able to be
secure against violent assault, including sexual assault . . .
 Senses, imagination, thought. Being able to use the senses; being able to imagine,
to think, and to reason . . . ; being able to use one's mind in ways protected by
guarantees of freedom of expression with respect to both political and artistic
speech and freedom of religious exercise; being able to have pleasurable
experiences and to avoid nonbeneficial pain
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
Emotions. Being able to have attachments to things and persons outside
ourselves; being able to love those who love and care for us . . . not having one's
emotional developing blighted by fear or anxiety.
 Practical reason. Being able to form a conception of the good and to engage in
critical reflection about the planning of one's own life.
 Affiliation Being able to live for and in relation to others, to recognize and show
concern for other human beings, to engage in various forms of social interaction;
being able to imagine the situation of another and to have compassion for that
situation; having the capability for both justice and friendship. . . . Being able to
be treated as a dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others.
 Other species. Being able to live with concern for and in relation to animals,
plants, and the world of nature.
 Play. Being able to laugh, to play, to enjoy recreational activities.
 Control over one's environment. (A) Political: being able to participate effectively
in political choices that govern one's life; having the rights of political
participation, free speech and freedom of association . . . (B) Material: being able
to hold property (both land and movable goods); having the right to seek
employment on an equal basis with others . . .
There are two important qualifications on this list: First, they are a list of separate
components. They are distinct in quality and all are of central importance. Second, they
are related to one another in complex ways that can only be discovered empirically.
Note that in her formulation of the basic capabilities the formula "being able to" is found
in almost every example.
Internal and Combined Capabilities
Internal capabilities are states of persons that are . . . sufficient conditions for the
exercise of the corresponding function (given suitable complement of external
conditions). Most adults have the internal capabilities of use of speech. Combined
capabilities are defined as internal capabilities plus the external conditions that make
the exercise of a function a live option. The aim of public policy is the promotion of
combined capabilities; this requires two kinds of efforts (1) the promotion of internal
capabilities (say, by education or training) and (2) the making available of the external
institutional and material conditions.
4.2. NEL NODDINGS
NelNoddings (1929- ) has made a significant contribution to our appreciation of
education. In particular her explorations of the ethics of care – and their relationship to
schooling, welfare, and to learning and teaching within families and local communities
came at a especially apposite moment. She has been able to demonstrate the
significance of caring and relationship both as an educational goal, and as a fundamental
aspect of education. As a result NelNoddings’ work has become a key reference point for
those wanting to reaffirm the ethical and moral foundations of teaching, schooling and
education more broadly. Her work has included analysis of caring and its place in ethics
(Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education – 1984); an attempt to
rethink evil from the perspective of women (Women and Evil – 1989) and a series of
books that have explored the implications of a concern for caring with education (The
Challenge to Care in Schools – 1992; Educating Moral People – 2002; Happiness and
Education – 2003). NelNoddings has also sought to encourage people to engage
philosophically with education (Philosophy of Education, Educating for Intelligent Belief
or Unbelief – 1995), and explored welfare policy if caring – a way of life learned in
homes – is placed at its centre (Starting at Home: Caring and Social Policy – 2002). In
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this article we explore her contribution, some issues arising from NelNoddings’ work
and the implications for educators.
Caring
NelNoddings is closely identified with the promotion of the ethics of care, – the
argument that caring should be a foundation for ethical decision-making. Her first major
work Caring (1984) explored what she described as a ‘feminine approach to ethics and
moral education’. Her argument starts from the position that care is basic in human life
– that all people want to be cared for. She also starts from the position that while men
and women are guided by an ethic of care, ‘natural’ caring – ‘a form of caring that does
not require an ethical effort to motivate it (although it may require considerable
physical and mental effort in responding to needs)’ can have a significant basis in
women’s experience. ‘Natural caring’, thus, is a moral attitude – ‘a longing for goodness
that arises out of the experience or memory of being cared for’. On this basis
NelNoddings explores the notion of ethical caring – ‘a state of being in relation,
characterized by receptivity, relatedness and engrossment’ .
Sympathy
What caring actually means and entails is not that easy to establish. NelNoddings’
approach is to examine how caring is actually experienced (what we might describe as a
phenomenological analysis). She asks “what are we like” when we engage in caring
encounters? ‘Perhaps the first thing we discover about ourselves’, she continues, ‘is that
we are receptive; we are attentive in a special way’. This attention shares some
similarities with what Carl Rogers describes as ’empathy’ (see Carl Rogers. core
conditions and education). However, Noddings is cautious as ’empathy’ is ‘peculiarly
western and masculine’ in its Western usage (op. cit.). Instead she prefers to talk about
‘sympathy’ – feeling with – as more nearly capturing ‘the affective state of attention in
caring’.
Receptive attention is an essential characteristic of a caring encounter. The carer is
open to what the cared-for is saying and might be experiencing and is able to reflect
upon it. However, there is also something else here – motivational displacement. In
other words, the carer’s ‘motive energy’ flows towards the ‘cared-for’. The carer thus
responds to the cared-for in ways that are, hopefully, helpful. For this to be called
‘caring’ a further step is required – there must also be some recognition on the part of
the cared-for that an act of caring has occurred. Caring involves connection between the
carer and the cared-for and a degree of reciprocity; that is to say that both gain from the
encounter in different ways and both give.
A caring encounter, thus, has three elements according to NelNoddings:
 A cares for B – that is A’s consciousness is characterized by attention and
motivational displacement – and
 A performs some act in accordance with , and
 B recognizes that A cares for B.
We could say that a caring person ‘is one who fairly regularly establishes caring
relations and, when appropriate maintains them over time
Caring-about and caring-for
NelNoddings helpfully, also, highlights the distinction between caring-for and caringabout. Thus far, we have been looking largely at caring-for – face-to-face encounters in
which one person cares directly for another. Caring-about is something more general –
and takes us more into the public realm. We may be concerned about the suffering of
those in poor countries and wish to do something about it (such as giving to a
development charity). As Noddings initially put it, caring-about involves ‘a certain
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benign neglect’. She continued, ‘One is attentive just so far. One assents with just so
much enthusiasm. One acknowledges. One affirms. One contributes five dollars and goes
on to other things’ . However, in her later works NelNoddings has argued that caringabout needs more attention. We learn first what it means to be cared-for. ‘Then,
gradually, we learn both to care for and, by extension, to care about others’. This caringabout, Noddings argues, is almost certainly the foundation for our sense of justice.
The key, central to care theory, is this: caring-about (or, perhaps a sense of justice) must
be seen as instrumental in establishing the conditions under which caring-for can
flourish. Although the preferred form of caring is cared-for, caring-about can help in
establishing, maintaining, and enhancing it. Those who care about others in the justice
sense must keep in mind that the objective is to ensure that caring actually occurs.
Caring-about is empty if it does not culminate in caring relations.
From this we can see that caring-about is a significant force in society. As well as being
an important feature of our sense of justice, it also contributes to the cultivation of
social capital. We learn to care-about, according to NelNoddings, through our
experience of being cared-for. Instead of starting with an ideal state or republic, care
theory starts with an ideal home and moves outward – ‘learning first what it means to
be cared for, then to care for intimate others, and finally to care about those we cannot
care for directly’ .
Caring, schooling and education
NelNoddings sees education (in its widest sense) as being central to the cultivation of
caring in society. She defines education as ‘a constellation of encounters, both planned
and unplanned, that promote growth through the acquisition of knowledge, skills,
understanding and appreciation’ . Given the above, it is not surprising that she places a
special emphasis on the home as a site for educational encounter. Indeed, she views the
home as the primary educator and argues for the re-orientation of social policy to this
end. This is not to sideline the role of schools but simply to recognize just what the
home contributes to the development of children and young people.
As soon as we view the home as the primary educator two major things follow in terms
of social policy. These are that first, every child should ‘live in a home that has at least
adequate material resources and attentive love; and second, that schools should include
education for home life in their curriculum’ . Both of these recommendations have far
reaching consequences. For example, in the case of the first, while some governments
have attempted to ensure that there are something like adequate material resources in
homes where there are children, there is little evidence of policymakers seriously
grappling with how attentive love might be fostered. Similarly, the question of
education for home life is not normally addressed in anything like an adequate form.
Indeed, the whole orientation of schooling systems in most ‘advanced capitalist’
countries is toward skilling for the needs of business and the economy. Some attention
is paid to personal, social and life education – but it generally remains woefully
inadequate when set against the demands of care theory. A further significant element
here is the direction of a great deal of educational philosophy and theory. For example,
John Dewey talks about education in terms of preparation for ‘public life’. While it is
possible to see what place education for home life might have in this (and the extent to
which caring-for is linked to the cultivation of caring-about) the way in which education
is often discussed in terms of public life can be seen as not taking full account of what
might be needed for personal flourishing.
A third element can also be seen as following from viewing the home as the primary
educator, that ‘schools should, as far as possible, use the sort of methods found in best
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homes to educate’. This has far reaching consequences and takes us into the arena of
informal education – and the appreciation and facility to move beyond understandings
of education that are centred around notions such as curriculum into more
conversational and incidental forms.
Modelling, dialogue, practice and confirmation
NelNoddings has argued that education from the care perspective has four key
components: modelling, dialogue, practice and confirmation.
Modelling. Within a care perspective, not unexpectedly, educators are concerned with
the growth of people as carers and cared-fors. Unlike cognitive developmentalists, for
example, they are not primarily interested in moral reasoning (although there is a
recognition that reasoning is important. Educators have to show in their behaviour
what it means to care. “We do not merely tell them to care and give them texts to read
on the subject, we demonstrate our caring in our relations with them”
Dialogue. The intent is to engage people in dialogue about caring. As NelNoddings has
pointed out, ‘dialogue is such an essential part of caring that we could not model caring
without engaging in it’ (op. cit.). In addition, it is also important to talk directly about,
and explore, our caring – as it can be manifested in very different ways. It can, thus help
people to critique and better understand their own relationships and practice. In other
words, it allows us to evaluate our attempts to care: ‘As we try to care, we are helped in
our efforts by the feedback we get from the recipients of our care’. Furthermore, and
crucially, dialogue contributes to the growth of cared-fors.
Practice.NelNoddings argues that the experiences in which we immerse ourselves tend
to produce a ‘mentality’. ‘If we want to produce people who will care for another, then it
makes sense to give students practice in caring and reflection on that practice’.
Confirmation. This particular component, it is suggested, sets caring apart from other
approaches to moral education. In making her case NelNoddings draws particularly on
the work of Martin Buber. He describes confirmation as an act of affirming and
encouraging the best in others.
When we confirm someone, we identify a better self and encourage its development. To
do this we must know the other reasonably well. Otherwise we cannot see what the
other is really striving for, what ideal he or she may long to make real. Formulas and
slogans have no place in confirmation. We do not posit a single ideal for everyone and
then announce ‘high expectations for all’. Rather we recognize something admirable, or
at least acceptable, struggling to emerge in each person we encounter. The goal or
attribute must be seen as worthy both by the person trying to achieve it and by us. We
do not confirm people in ways we judge to be wrong.
Significantly, such confirmation involves trust and continuity. The latter is needed as we
need knowledge of the other (op. cit.) and the former as the career needs to be credible
and to be capable of handling explorations and what emerges sensitively.
Caring and ethical theory
NelNoddings suggests that neither utilitarianism (making decisions on the basis of
anticipated consequences) nor deontology (principled reasoning) can provide a proper
understanding of the way women approached ethical questions and concerns. ‘The
approach through law and principle is not’, she suggested, ‘the approach of the mother.
It is the approach of the detached one, of the father’. She does not argue that there are
distinctively different approaches empirically typical of men and women but rather
looks to a ‘feminine view’ in ‘the deep classical sense – rooted in receptivity,
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relatedness, and responsiveness’ (op. cit.). Natural caring, such as that of a mother for a
child, according to NelNoddings, comes before ethical caring and is preferable to it.
In contrast “ethical” caring does have to be summoned. The “I ought” arises but
encounters conflict: An inner voice grumbles, “I ought but I don’t want to,” or “Why
should I respond?” or “This guy deserves to suffer, so why should I help?” On these
occasions we need not turn to a principle; more effectively we turn to our memories of
caring and being cared for and a picture or ideal of ourselves as carers… Ethical caring’s
great contribution is to guide action long enough for natural caring to be restored and
for people once again to interact with mutual and spontaneous regard. Care theory is
seen as reversing Kantian priorities. NelNoddings, by putting ‘natural’ caring above
ethical caring, takes the view that latter is instrumental in ‘establishing or restoring’ the
former
5.1. PERSPECTIVES ON MORALITY
Morality, at its most basic, is the distinction between right and wrong, and while this
sounds simple, it's actually very complex. Di፨erent people in di፨erent societies have
morals, so how do we start sorting them out? Well, luckily for us, there are already a few
perspectives where we can start.
Autonomy
Where do we look for morals? What is the most basic unit of morality? Well, look no
further. I mean, it's not me; that's not what I'm saying. Actually, just the opposite. It's
you. In the perspective of autonomy, the individual self is the basis of morality. In this
theory, it all comes down to the choice of the individual. What is truly moral and what is
not? Even more importantly, what does that morality mean? Society can tell you that
something is right or wrong, but at the end of the day, it's a personal choice to accept
that or to reject it. For example, the law says don't steal. Okay, there's a moral standard,
but you have to decide not to steal. This means that the most fundamental aspect of
morality is the action of the individual person. What this also means, however, is that
people are responsible for their own actions. When you act, you judge what is right and
wrong for yourself, and if you choose to do something that is outside our society's
expectations, you are personally responsible for having made that choice.
Heteronomy
So, autonomy looks to the individual self for morality. But this is a question of
philosophy, so naturally, there are multiple sides to this. The opposite of autonomy is
heteronomy, morals defined by a force outside of the individual. This means that you do
not defining morality; it is defined for you. Let's see an example. The law says don't
steal. If you don't steal because you believe it's wrong, that's autonomy at work. But if
the only reason you don't steal is because you're afraid of being caught, that's an
external force pressuring you, or heteronomy. Now, that's admittedly not a perfect
example, because autonomous societies do have laws, as long as people are aware that
the laws are created, not universal, and they have a say in what those are. The laws that
govern heteronymous societies are more…out there - beyond the ability of society to
control. Things like the ancestors, tradition, and national identity. These are
heteronomous forces and are seen by some as immoral because they do not respect
individual choice. Others see them as necessary so that moral systems feel permanent,
which prevents people from disobeying them.
Theonomy
There is one other perspective we should talk about. Theonomy is the belief that all
morals, both personal and societal, are based in religion. Generally, this term is used to
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describe the belief that all morals are found in the Christian Bible, although really it can
be applied to any
Religion. So, this is a heteronymous moral theory, because an external force, over which
the individual has zero control, is defining morality.
5.1. DICHOTOMY BETWEEN REASON AND PASSION
The belief in the reason/passion dichotomy has a number of causes. The first is the
belief that to be truly objective, you must be impartial and not influenced by emotion. If
you feel strongly about an issue, it is taken as a sign that you cannot be rational about it.
If this were true, it would be enough to sever reason and passion. Fortunately, reason
need not be sacrificed to emotion And emotion need not conflict with reality.
A second cause of the reason/passion dichotomy stems from the mind/body one. It is
the belief that the physical and mental world are separate and opposite. People consider
passion as very worldly. It shows an emphasis on our lives and the world around us. It
screams, "This is important!" Passion is powerful. We use it for emotions that are based
on value-judgments. Whether it's love or hate, joy or anger, we experience it in response
to what is important in our lives.
Reason, on the other hand, is often considered abstract. As with the Scholastics arguing
about angels dancing on the head of a pin, it is seen as interesting, but not particularly
relevant. It is seen as "other worldly" and more of a form of amusement than anything
practical. Philosophers through history have encouraged this belief by making a life out
of pointless "reasoning", all the while achieving nothing and not even practicing what
they preach.
Reason and passion are not opposites though. In fact, they are complementary and
properly go together. An emotion is a programmed, automated response to a particular
value-judgment. The value-judgment is determined by reason. Properly, reason and
passion align and mutually reinforce each other. A solid reasoning provides increased
strength to the passion, removing any subconscious doubts. A strong passion provides
perspective on what is important, and allows a more focused reasoning. It keeps you
focused on what's really important.
Passion without reason is a flight of fancy. It has no support from the mind, which leaves
lingering doubts. An emotion can never be as strong when it defies reason. Reason
fights against it, dissolving it over time. Those who claim they feel passion without
reason are merely claiming that they are impervious to the effects of reason. Reason
without passion is equally implausible. If one really has acquired an understanding of
something important, the passion should follow from the reasoning. Only when the
"reason" is rationalistic, non-integrated and undigested can it be devoid of emotion. If
someone claims that something is crucial to your life and well-being, but can't get
excited about it, it is a sign that he doesn't actually grasp the idea.
Let's take an example. Love is an area where most people have some experience in, and
it illustrates the point well. An example of passion without reason is when you feel love
towards someone you know or strongly suspect is wrong for you. In this case, reason
and emotion are battling each other. Often people try to ignore their reasoning in order
to try to make the relationship work. It can't be done, though. Whatever passion there
might have been at first dies out. Even if the emotion remains, it is twisted and
contradictory. The result is a love/hate relationship. When passion and reason combine,
though, the emotion of love is amplified. They work together, increasing the feeling. This
is partly why infatuation is so strong at first. Since you don't know much about the other
person, you fill in the gaps with your own preferences. Until the illusion is shattered,
your mind will encourage the emotion, as it interprets new information to correspond
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with your preferences. Even this doesn't compare to the intensity when reason and
passion really align. This is what people mean when they talk about true love. Love that
is intense, and has no doubts. This is how reason and passion should always be.
Working together to promote happiness. Due to the lack of understanding of the roles of
reason and passion, people have chosen a side at the expense of the other. The men of
reason have opted for cold, dry logic in an attempt to show their objectivity and
seriousness. The defenders of reason have surrendered passion to the irrational. It's
time to reclaim it.
6.2. MORAL JUDGEMENT AND MORAL ACTION
The moral judgement is the judgement which deals with the moral value or quality of an
action. It is a judgement of value and it evaluates the rightness or wrongness of our
actions. When we analyse a moral judgement then we find that it contains a) a subject
which will judge, b) an object whose action will be judged, c) a standard in conformity to
which the action of the subject will be judged and d) a power of judging the action as
required. Moral judgment is the judgment of moral quality of voluntary habitual actions.
Generally, a moral judgment is given on the voluntary and habitual actions of a rational
being. The voluntary actions of a rational person which involve deliberation, choice, and
resolution, have the moral quality of rightness and wrongness. They are considered to
be right or wrong with the reference to the moral standard. And on the basis of this
standard, moral judgment is given. If the voluntary actions have conformity with the
standard or the ideal, then the moral judgment will express it as the right action. If the
action has conflict with the standard or norms, then the moral judgment will express it
as wrong. So, moral judgment involves comparison of voluntary acts with the moral
standard. Moral judgment is active in nature. Because moral judgment is given upon
voluntary and habitual acts of persons and not upon their passive experiences. Moral
judgment is social in character. Because, as we know, voluntary acts of a person are
right or wrong, because they more or less affect the of interest of others. Man is a social
being. His rights and duties of actions rise out of his relation to other persons in society.
So, moral judgment, apart from society is inconceivable. Moral judgment can be said to
be obligatory in character. Because a judgment can be given as right, while we feel the
moral obligation to do it. Similarly, moral judgment is given on an act as wrong, when
we feel the moral obligation to refrain from it. Thus, moral judgment is always
accompanied by the sense of duty or moral obligation. And this moral obligation is
essentially self-imposed. In this way, we can find out the meaning of moral judgment.
How are the moral judgements different from logical judgements?
 Moral judgements are distinguished from logical judgements. Logical judgements
refer to the ideal of Truth and it is merely a judgement about. But moral
judgements refer to the ideal of supreme Good. The supreme Good or the highest
Good is the ultimate standard of moral judgement.
 In moral judgement there is always moral obligation and moral sentiments.
Moral obligation is the sense of duty or oughtness.
 Again, moral judgements are accompanied by a feeling of approval or
disapproval, feeling of complacence or remorse etc. when we judge an action to
be right, we feel under moral obligation to perform it and have a feeling of
approval. When we judge an action to be wrong we feel under moral obligation
not to perform it and have a feeling of disapproval. But all are lacking in logical
judgement.
 Mackenzie holds that moral judgement is a judgement upon action with
reference to the moral ideal. For him moral judgement is not like a logical
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judgement which is a judgement about an action. He says that moral judgement
does not consider the nature of an action, but it considers its moral value.
 Muirhead says that moral judgement is not a judgement in the logical sense of a
‘proposition’ but that it is a judgement in the judicial sense of a ‘sentence’.
Moral judgements differ from Aesthetics judgements.
 Moral judgements are also distinguished from Aesthetic judgements.
 Though moral judgements and aesthetic judgements are the matter of normative
sciences, but their norms are different.
 Moral judgement deals with the ideal of Highest Good whereas aesthetic
judgement deals with the ideal of Beauty.
 Again, aesthetic judgements are not accompanied by moral obligation and moral
sentiments.
 On the other hand moral judgements are obligatory in nature and accompanied
by moral sentiments.
 Moral judgement has objective validity. An action is right in a particular situation
from the standpoint of the universe. It is not determined by the subjective
inclination and prejudices of the person who makes the judgement.
THE OBJECT OF MORAL JUDGEMENT
Moral judgments are passed on the voluntary actions and habitual actions. Actually
habitual actions are voluntary actions turned into habit after constant repetitions.
Hence, only voluntary actions are objects of moral judgement and they are judged to be
right or wrong. Voluntary actions imply the freedom of will. Non voluntary actions are
outside the scope of moral judgement.
Voluntary action has some internal factors:
 The mental stage of spring of action, motive, intention, desire, deliberation,
choice and resolution.
 The organic stage of bodily action.
 The external stage of consequence
Now the question arises—
 Do we judge an act by its motives or by its consequence?
Or
 Is motive or consequence of a voluntary action the object of moral judgement?
 Is motive alone or intention the object of moral judgement?
 Is intention of character the object of moral judgement?
THE SUBJECT OF MORAL JUDGEMENT
The subject of the moral judgement is the rational self or ideal self. Mackenzie holds that
a person judges an action to be right or wrong from the standpoint of an ideal standard.
For him, by the subject of the moral judgement we mean the point of view from which
an action is judged to be good or bad. Shaftesbury maintains that conduct is judged to be
good or bad by the moral connoisseur. Like Shaftesbury, Adam Smith holds that a
person passes moral judgement on his own actions and actions of others from the stand
point of an impartial spectator. The different interpretations of the subjects of the moral
judgement bring out the fact that moral judgements involve a higher point of view of the
ideal self. The ideal self passes moral judgements on the motives, intentions, on his own
actions and actions of others.
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REFERENCE: BOOKS/URL
1. http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/nussbaum.htm
2. http://infed.org/mobi/nel-noddings-the-ethics-of-care-and-education/
3. http://cuapress.cua.edu/books/viewbook.cfm?Book=RHPM
4. http://www.hyponoesis.org/Content/pdf/Reason_and_Passion.pdf
5. http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Rowlands/Reason_and_Passion.shtml
6. http://www.crvp.org/book/series04/iva-14/chapter_iv.htm
7. http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_198805_p4.pdf
8. http://www.kkhsou.in/main/philosophy/moral_judgement.html
9. http://www.sandness.shetland.sch.uk/parents/documents/RME.pdf
10. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_education)
11. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110813032310/http:/curriculum.
qcda.gov.uk/uploads/QCA-07-3350-p_RE_KS3_tcm8-411.pdf
12. https://philosophynow.org/issues/60/Frontiers_of_Justice_Disability_Nationalit
y_Species_Membership_by_Martha_Nussbaum
13. AmartyaSen,( 1999), Development as Freedom (Oxford University Press,
14. Martha C. Nussbaum, (2000), Women and Human Development (Cambridge
University Press,
15. Martha C. Nussbaum, (2002) Beyond the Social Contract: Capabilities and Global
Justice
16. Martha C. Nussbaum, (2006) Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, and
Species Membership , Harvard University Press,
17. Martha C. Nussbaum, ( 1999), Sex and Social Justice (Oxford University Press,
18. Martha C. Nussbaum, (2000), Women and Human Development (Cambridge
University Press,
19. Martha C. Nussbaum, (2006) Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, and
Species Membership , Harvard University Press,
20. Martha C. Nussbaum, ( 1999), Sex and Social Justice (Oxford University Press,
21. Noddings, Nel: (1984) Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral
Education, page 3-4. University of California Press, Berkeley,
22. Noddings, Nel: (1989), Women and Evil, page 222. University of California Press,
Berkeley.
23. Noddings, Nel. (1999), Justice and Caring: The Search for Common Ground in
Education. Teachers College Press, New York,
24. Noddings, Nel. (2005 ), Identifying and Responding to needs in Teacher
Education. Cambridge Journal of Education,
25. Noddings, Nel. (2005.), What does it mean to Educate the WHOLE child?.
Educational Leadership,
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M.A. EDUCATION
EDUE: 406 VALUE EDUCATION
UNIT III: MORAL DEVELOPMENT OF
THE CHILD
PREPARED BY: DINESH KUMAR K
1. CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Moral Development focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality
from infancy through adulthood. In the field of moral development, morality is defined
as principles for how individuals ought to treat one another, with respect to justice,
others’ welfare, and rights. In order to investigate how individuals understand morality,
it is essential to measure their beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that contribute
to moral understanding. The field of moral development studies the role of peers and
parents in facilitating moral development, the role of conscience and values,
socialization and cultural influences, empathy and altruism, and positive development.
The interest in morality spans many disciplines (e.g., philosophy, economics, biology,
and political science) and specializations within psychology (e.g., social, cognitive, and
cultural). Moral developmental psychology research focuses on questions of origins and
change in morality across the lifespan.
The founder of psychoanalysis, Freud (1962), proposed the existence of a tension
between the needs of society and the individual. According to Freud, the moral
development proceeds when the individual’s selfish desires are repressed and replaced
by the values of important socializing agents in one’s life (for instance, one’s parents). A
proponent of behaviorism, Skinner (1972) similarly focused on socialization as the
primary force behind moral development. In contrast to Freud’s notion of a struggle
between internal and external forces, Skinner focused on the power of external forces
(reinforcement contingencies) to shape an individual’s development. While both Freud
and Skinner focused on the external forces that bear on morality (parents in the case of
Freud, and behavioral contingencies in the case of Skinner), Piaget (1965) focused on
the individual’s construction, construal, and interpretation of morality from a socialcognitive and social-emotional perspective.
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To understand adult morality, Piaget believed that it was necessary to study both how
morality manifests in the child’s world as well as the factors that contribute to the
emergence of central moral concepts such as welfare, justice, and rights. Interviewing
children using the Clinical Interview Method, Piaget (1965) found that young children
were focused on authority mandates, and that with age children become autonomous,
evaluating actions from a set of independent principles of morality. Kohlberg (1963)
expanded upon Piagetian notions of moral development.[4] While they both viewed
moral development as a result of a deliberate attempt to increase the coordination and
integration of one’s orientation to the world, Kohlberg's studies and research provided a
systematic 3-level, 6-stage sequence reflecting changes in moral judgment throughout
the lifespan. Specifically, Kohlberg argued that development proceeds from a selfish
desire to avoid punishment (personal), to a concern for group functioning (societal), to
a concern for the consistent application of universal ethical principles
(moral).Furthermore, Kohlberg believed that in order for a child to advance to a more
developed level of morality, he or she must develop an equivalent level of intellectual
ability. In the words of Kohlberg, “ The child can internalize the moral values of his
parents and culture and make them his own only as he comes to relate these values to a
comprehended social order and to his own goals as a social self”.[5] Although Kohlberg
is praised for his work there have been many questions raised whether or not it is
100% accurate. Many people believe his six-stage theory was sexist because only males
were in the test group for this study. Regardless, Kolberg’s research cemented his
expanded ideas on moral development as legitimate in the field of developmental
psychology.
CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT
Development is a continues process - First development is a continuous process.
Development does not stop at any time. It continues from the moment of conception
until the individual reaches maturity. It takes place at a slow or a rapid rate but at a
regular pace rather than by leaps and bounds.
The fact that development is continuous emphasises the point that each stage of
development has its foundations built upon a preceding stage and has a definite
influence on the succeeding stage of development. There may be a break in the
continuity of growth due to illness, starvation or malnutrition or other environmental
factors or some abnormal conditions in the child’s life. According to Growth and
Development, the life of an individual can be divided into the following major
developmental periods :
 Pre-natal period (from conception to birth)
 Neo-natal period (birth to 10-14 days)
 Babyhood (2 weeks to 2 years)
 Early childhood (2 years to 6 years)
 Late childhood (6 years to 12-13 years)
 Adolescence (from 12-13 years to 18-19 years)
 Adulthood (from 18-19 years and onwards)
Development follows a pattern :Secondly, development occurs in orderly manner and
follows a certain sequences. In nature we find that every species or organism follows a
pattern of development. The same is the case with human beings. Development occurs
in orderly manner and follows a certain sequence which, in general is the same for most
children. Each stage of development leads to the next. For instance, all children first
learn to sit up without support before they stand. Similarly, they learn to draw a circle
before attempting to draw a square.
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The rate and speed of development may vary in individual cases, but the sequence of the
pattern is the same. A child from a disadvantaged home and a child from an affluent
home, both follow the same pattern of development, although the latter may develop at
a faster rate due to the facilities available at home.
One of the sequential patterns of development relate to the two directions in which
development proceeds. Firstly, development proceeds from the upper portions of the
body toward the lower portions. This is referred to as “head to toe” sequence. This
means that improvements in the structure and function in a child’s body come first in
the head region, then in the trunk and last in the leg region. This growth pattern helps to
explain why children sit before they can stand and crawl before they can walk.
Secondly, development proceeds from the centre line of the body outward towards the
distance or peripheral parts referred to as “near to far” sequence. Hence, in a foetus, the
head and the trunk are fairly well developed before the rudimentary limb buds appear,
gradually the arm buds lengthen and then develop into hands and fingers. This growth
pattern explains, for instance, why children in the early years are more adept at
controlling larger muscles than the whole limbs. They are unable to control finer
muscles that are required for the manipulation of tiny objects with fingers.
Development proceeds from general to specific responses:Thirdly, it makes from a
generalized to localized behaviour.In studying the development pattern of children, it is
observed that general activity always precedes specific activity. The early responses of
the baby are very general in nature which is gradually replaced with specific ones. The
earliest emotional responses of the new born are generally diffused excitement and this
slowly gives way to specific emotional patterns of anger, joy, fear, etc. Babies wave their
arms in general, random movements before they are capable of such specific responses
as reaching for an object held before them. Similarly, in early stages of language
development the child may use a particular word for any type of animal/ eatable.
Gradually, as his / her vocabulary increases, he/she will learn to use correct specific
words. Thus, uncoordinated movements/ responses are gradually replaced by specific
ones.
Development involves change:Development involves a progressive series of changes.
The human being is never static. From the moment of conception to the time of death,
the person is undergoing changes. Nature shapes development most clearly through
genetic programming that may determine whole sequences of later development. It
refers to a progressive series of orderly coherent changes. Growth on the other hand
refers to quantitative changes increasing in size and structure. Development implies
both quantitative and qualitative changes.
Development is a product of interaction of the heredity and environment:Child at
any stage of his growth and development is a joint products of both heredity and
environment. But it is not possible to indicate exactly in what proportion heredity and
environment contribute to the development of an individual. The two work hand in
hand from the very conceptions. The environment bears upon the new organism from
the beginning. Among, the environmental factors like nutrition, climate, the conditions
in the home, the type of social organisation in which individual move and live, the roles
they have to play and other.
Principle of uniqueness:Development is individualized process. Although the pattern
of development is similar for all children, they follow the pattern at their own rate.
These individual differences arise because each child is controlled by a unique
combination of hereditary endowment and environmental factors. Every child follows a
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developmental timetable that is characteristically unique for each child. All children
therefore do not reach the same point of development at the same age.
Individual differences are caused by the both hereditary and environmental conditions.
The child’s physical development, for example, depends partly on the hereditary
potential and partly on the environmental factors such as diet, general health, climate
etc.
Development is also affected by the genetic factors. A child should be provided with
opportunities for experiences and learning. These include:
 A stimulating environment where the child can explore. The environment must
include materials which arouse curiosity and facilitate learning and
 Encouragement and guidance from parents and teachers.
Each child is a unique individual. No two children can be expected to behave or develop
in an identical manner although they are of the same age. For example, in the same
class, a child who comes from a deprived environment cannot be expected to do as well
in studies as a child of the same ability whose parents put high value on education and
encourage the child to study.
The Principle of Interaction of Maturation and Learning:Another important
principle of development is that it occurs as a result of both maturation and learning.
Maturation refers to changes in a developed organism due to the unfolding ripening of
abilities, characteristics, traits and potentialities present at birth. Learning denotes the
changes in behaviour due to training and or experiences. Maturation is the inner growth
process unaffected by training. Another factor that causes growth is ‘learning’. Learning
implies exercise and experience on the part of an individual. Learning may result from
practice, which in due course of time may bring about a change in the individual’s
behaviour. Maturation and learning are closely related and one influences the other.
This means that traits potentially present will not develop to their maximum without
e