In the last few centuries,
many theories have been proposed with regard to the process of learning. Some
of them are based on the psychological foundations, others on philosophical
foundations, a few others on geo-political and other sociological foundations.
A number of theories have also been an outcome of some of the perceptions, researchers
and educators had developed based on their personal observations, experiments,
findings, life-experiences and other modes of growth as well as conditioning of
the human mind and spirit. The early Indian literature in Sanskrit has also
enough of philosophical and psychological inputs that help us to understand
learning and education in the Indian context. They are outcomes from intense
deliberations of vibrant human minds in search of a self-identity and social
consciousness. Philosophies and pedagogies have been shaped, time to time,
based on the aims and objectives of the contemporary societies.
Tiruvalluvar, a renowned
Tamil poet and architect of “Thirukkural” – authored between 450-500 ECE, which
comprises of 1330 Kurals (couplets) is considered as “Podhu marai” – a
spiritual document that which appeals to a range of people from the
intellectuals to the common men, discusses
several dimensions and facets of life, under three broad heads – aram (
dharma, righteousness) porul, (Wealth)
kamam (Love). His brief but,
powerful statements on several issues are sharp, precise and focused. They
convey meanings and messages which impact not only the thought patterns of
people but their emotions and consequent life systems.
They are a delight to curious human minds of all ages and carry an eternal value.Speaking about education, one of the couplets of Thirukkural possibly encompasses in itself the power of several philosophies of education, if understood clearly. The Kural reads as follows:
"கற்க கசடறக் கற்பவை கற்றபின்
நிற்க அதற்குத் தக.”
The above couplet has a deep-rooted
meaning which could relate to all societies, all economies, all geographies and
at all periods of time
The first word of the
couplet “Karka” is a verb – that could be interpreted as an instruction, a
message, a pastoral statement or as the wisdom emanating from a scholarly
mentor. It means “Learn”. By saying so, the great saint clearly focuses on the
process of ‘learning’ indicating in clear terms that the onus of learning is on
the learner. Any amount of resources, inputs a learner may have at his behest,
unless he has a curiosity to learn, unless he is willing to learn, unless he
has set his priority as ‘learning’, no external sources could impact the
individual. Thus, the learner is left with absolutely no choice but to engage
with the process of learning. Just focusing on the action, the saint delinks
the source and the strategies that would lead to learning. It could be formal,
informal, incidental, accidental or otherwise. The learner enjoys the freedom
of action both as individual and as a member of a society. Further, the word
focuses on the ‘process of learning’, thus marginalizing the learner and the
source of learning, shifting the paradigm to ‘learning-centric’ behaviour. Thus,
this single word conveys three important messages – direction, action and
engagement. It explains that the nucleus of the entire process of education is
‘learning’ -thus setting the right priorities for the learner.
Through the second word
“Kasadara” – the great saint-poet, takes the learner to a very significant
domain in the process of learning. How does one learn? Learning is not a
superficial engagement with some amount of information. It is not ‘rote
learning’. It is an immersive activity. While ‘learning’ one dives deep into
unfathomed oceans of knowledge and unravels the mysteries that each piece of
knowledge hosts. “Kasadara” means – without any flaw, thoroughly. This focuses
on authentic learning, learning which is insightful, learning which is not
shadowed by any myths or belief systems which are born out of imprudence. The
poet calls for a process of learning which is pragmatic, sublime and knowledge
which is valid, credible and non-negotiable. This would be possible only if the
learner is passionate with the assignment one has on hand. This passion is born
out of the joy with the engagement. At the same time, it demands some
responsibilities from the learner – to differentiate the truth from untruth,
the relevant from the irrelevant and the right from the wrong. This calls for a
fearless encounter with knowledge and oftentimes to challenge the resources
from which the learning happens.
The learner has been advised
– to learn, and to learn without flaw. But the learner has a question in mind. What should I learn? The learner is not only
confused about what one should learn, but finds oneself in a situation of
conflict on the right choice of the disciplines for learning. The choice of
words to explain this situation by Thiruvalluvar is awesome. He understands
that learning is impacted by interests, choices and aptitudes. So, the freedom
to learn should be vested with the learner. He cleverly avoids giving any suggestion
to the universe of learning. “Karpavai” meaning “whatever one has to learn”.
This gives a great freedom of choice to the learner, but having chosen the
universe of learning by force or any external stimuli. One has to be
passionately engaged with the process in order to gain flawless knowledge.
Further, while making the choice of one’s universe of learning, the learner has
to exercise caution as to ‘what one should choose to learn.” The word
‘karpavai’ directly and indirectly implies that one need not learn everything
that is available as piece of knowledge. Its personal value, social value,
ethical value, pragmatic value has to be considered before making the choice.
Thus, one finds again the ‘responsibility’ for the universe of learning is
vested with the individual learner. Further, the word “Karpavai” suggests that
in the universe of learning, there are a number of things which need not be
learnt or are not worth learning. Hence the learner has to prudently and
consciously choose his domain of learning and should not get distracted by
other temptuous domains of learning.
The great saint does not
stop with his guidelines for learning. After all, every learning has an impact
and it does result in a behavioural change. So, the question remains – what is
the objective of learning? Is it to increase one’s material wealth or are there
other things which need to be addressed consequent to the learning?
In the second line of the
couplet, he ventures to explain the same. “katra pin” – “after learning” – what
is to be done? Any piece of knowledge is of no use if it is not put into use.
However, how does one use the knowledge gained, depends on certain personal
choices as well as social compulsions and expectations. Because of any fear or
hesitation or reservation, one cannot go into a ‘mute mode’ after learning.
There are certain obligations to the learner to discharge, in terms of one’s
gratitude to the society which has facilitated this human empowerment. The
entire course of life has to reflect the wisdom of one’s learning. The learning
should help the learner to be a part of a creative community, to create for the
needs of the future,
So, what does one do after
learning?
“Nirkka” meaning “stand” –
position yourself, says the poet. The position a learner designs, articulates
and awards oneself should reflect the wisdom, the maturity, the experience and
the information one has acquired during his long journey of learning. Instead
of saying, what are the things one should do subsequent to learning, the poet
again gives the responsibility to the learner. One must learn how to position
oneself and this calls for a high degree of social consciousness, skills in
relationship management, a deep insight into one’s operational geography and
one’s own desire and direction for further growth.
In a world which is
increasingly consumerist, where cutting edge competition matters, where people
would like to seek and acquire positions whether one deserves it or not, where
people would like to misuse, abuse and profuse through positions in which they
are placed, the words of Thiruvalluvar have a powerful message. He says
“atharkkuth thaga” – meaning “appropriate to the learning one has got”. In
other words, if one is not going to reflect ethics, life skills, wisdom,
maturity and intellectual and emotional skills one has acquired through
learning, then the entire exercise of learning becomes useless, irrelevant and
unproductive.
In the entire exercise of
the explanation of learning, the poet-saint does not talk of any achievement or
reward as the goal or aim of learning. The definition distances itself from any
competitive learning or comparison between individuals as a result of learning.
Learning is a personal empowerment of a vibrant human being and the individual
should seek to learn to understand the meaning of life both in the personal as
well as universal context. The definition, thus, rejects the modern
perspectives of learning, largely aimed at bread and butter aim, and on
certification of learning through certain minimal.
Through a small couplet
(Kural), Thiruvalluvar, has been able to focus on several of the established
philosophies and concepts deliberated in the current and the past century.
Further, the Kural, also both directly and indirectly refers to all the four pillars
of learning postulated for the 21st century by UNESCO in its
document ‘Learning: The Treasure Within” – “Learning to Know; Learning to Do:
Learning to get Together; Learning to Be.” Certainly, this Thirukkural focuses
on – the need for knowledge, the process of acquisition of knowledge, the
authenticity of knowledge, the action born out of knowledge, the positioning of
the learner subsequent to knowledge acquisition in a social set up and learning
to celebrate the self.
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