COURSES OF STUDY : ARTS AND SCIENCE
I.-Introductory 1. The Functions of Courses of Study. 2. Phases of Education
II.-General Education 3. The Functions of General Education. 4. The Effects of Over- Specialization. 5. The Value of Well-Balanced Education. 6. Increasing Interest in General Education. 7. The Content of General Education. 8. The Approach to General Education. 9.Importance of Selection of Material for General Education Courses. 10. Science in General Education. 11. The Humanities in General, Education. 12. General Education in Secondary Schools. 13. General Education in Colleges. 14. First Degree Course : Arts and Science. 15. The Duration of University Studies.
III.-Introduction of Courses in General Education 16. Reading Material and Syllabus for General Education Courses.
17. The Introduction of General Education.
IV.-18. Recommendations
I.-Introductory 1. The Functions of Courses of Study-In the actual processes. of living there are no sharp boundaries between experiences in differ- ent fields. Any experience in one field is associated with and in- fluenced by experiences in various other fields. Thus life is one total, complex fabric. Yet in preparing for living by courses of study we find it to be convenient and economical to break up our interests into limited areas. There is danger that in time these limited areas of interest shall come to seem like little worlds of their own, each with its peculiar body of subject matter, and each being largely independent of all the others. Courses of study are essential expedients of formal education, but they should be recognized as nothing but, an arbitrary though useful contrivance. Unless the vital inter-connections of all phases of experience are kept in mind, the convenient devices of courses of study may become barriers which prevent our realizing the unity of knowledge and experience.
2. Phases of Education-So far as formal courses of study are concerned, higher education should have three main objectives. The first of these is General Education--We think and judge and act on the basis of our information and experience. If these are very limited, then our world will be small and our judgments faulty. It is the business of General Education to make available to the student, and to inspire him to master, wisely selected information as to facts and principles, so that he will have representative and useful data on which to base his thought, judgement and action, and
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will be aware of fields of interest and importance. In the modern world there is such a vast accumulation of knowledge that no person is capable in all fields of selecting what is most important for him to know. In general education it is the business of the best qualified men in each field to select from the great mass of knowledge in that field the most significant principles, and suitable cases to illustrate those principles, and to present them in a way which will make them most available to the student. The teacher in general education should not in preparing such material, think of his own field alone. Keeping in mind the total ground to be covered by the student in all fields, be should reduce his teaching material to such proportions that it requires no more than its fair share of the student's time.
The second objective of courses of study, Liberal Education is preparation of the student for independent thinking, for critical inquiry and appraisal, and for creative and constructive thought and action. Liberal education does not call for separate institutions nor always for separate teaching programmes. The spirit, of liberal inquiry should inspire all teaching. On this assumption it is not necessary to distinguish between general and liberal education. It is appropriate, however, that for mature students there shall be courses,seminars and research projects which have as a direct aim the teaching of the skills and disciplines and philosophy of free critical inquiry.
The third aim of courses of study is Occupational Education. that is, preparation of the student for his life, work or for other speci- alized interests. Such courses are called vocational or technical or professional.
While these phases of education are inter-related and seldom if ever should be pursued in isolation from each other, yet we can better understand the suitability of courses of study if we consider general and professional education separately.
II.-General Education. 3. The Functions of General Education-Higher education should not be looked upon as the acquiring of certain conventional accomplishments which mark one as a member of the educated class. It should be a well-proportioned preparation for effective living in varied circumstances and relationships. The interests and opportu- nities and demands of life are not limited to any few subjects one may elect to study. They cover the entire range of nature and of society. That is the best liberal education which best enables one to live a full life, usually including an experience of mastery in Some specialized field.
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Just as a thrilling book is to an illiterate man only some paper with black marks on it, so to a person without general education the larger part of the varied and teeming interests of the world about him will be mysterious or meaningless or non-existent. The persoe with a narrowly specialized, education is like a man who lives in a house with only one window, so that he can look out in only one direction. A general education should open windows in many directions, so that most of the varied experiences of his life, and most elements of his environment, shall have meaning and interest to him.
4. The Effects of Over-specialization--The result of unbalanced university education has been described by Jose Ortegay Gasset in Mission of the University.
"Compared with the mediaeval university, the contemporary university has developed the mere seed of professional instruction into an enormous activity : it has added the function of research: and it has abandoned almost entirely the teaching of transmission of culture.
"It is evident that the change has been pernicious. Europe today is taking the sinister consequences. The convulsive situation in Europe at the present moment is due to the fact that the average Englishman, the average Frenchman, the average German are uncultured; they are ignorant of the essential system of ideas conerning the world and man, which belong to our time. This average person is the new barbarian, a laggard behind the contemporary civilization, archaic and primitive in contrast with his problems, which are. grimly, relentlessly modern. This new barbarian is above all the professional man, more learned than ever before, but at the same time more uncultured--the engineer, the physician, the lawyer, the scientist.
"The man who does not possess the concept of physics (not the science of physics proper, but the vital idea of the world which it has created), and the concept afforded by history, and by biology, and the scheme of speculative philosophy, is not an educated man. Unless he should happen to be endowed with exceptional qualities, it is extremely unlikely that such a man will be in-the fullest sense a good doctor, a good judge, or a good technical expert. But it is certain that all the other things he does in life, including part of his profession itself which transcend its proper academic boundaries, will turn out unfortunately. His political ideas and actions will be inept, his affairs of the heart, beginning with the type of woman he will prefer, will be crude and ridiculous; he will bring to his family life an atmosphere of unreality and cramped narrowness, which will warp upbringing of his children."
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Gasset quotes the Chinese philosopher, Chuang-Tsu of the fourth century B. C.; "How shall I talk of the sea to the frog, if he has never left his pond? How shall I talk of the frost to a bird of the summer land, if it has never left the land of its birth? How shall I talk of life with the sage, if he is the prisoner of his doctrines?"
While we may consider Gasset's statement to be immoderate, yet it is evident that the traditional pattern for higher education does tend to create narrow specialists. Unless a person's elementary and secondary education has been unusually fortunate, and. except as he has active curiosity which leads him to educate himself in varied fields, the typical college graduate is largely ignorant outside of his own subject. So far as higher education is concerned, narrow specialization is frequently compelled by rigidly fixed curricula.
5. The Value of Well-Balanced Education 1-In his actual day by day life an average graduate is not primarily a zoologist or a chemist or an economist or a student of literature. His chief relationships are those of citizen, father, husband, neighbour, bread-winner, and those of an individual having may relationships with the physical world and with society. He has political, social, business and cultu- ral interests outside his speical field. Aside from the professional or
"Some years ago studios of the relationship between undergraduate study and standing in the professional schools of Harvard University disclosed that those who majored in the natural sciences had no bettor records in medical school than other students. Nor did they achieve any greater eminence after graduation. Grades in the law school were similarly unrelated to any particular pattern of undergraduate instruction. More recent studios at the University of Buffalo likewise show no positive relationship between the undergraduate major and success in the schools of medicine and dentistry. Likewise those who recruit promising college graduates for positions in business and industry are more concerned about the range of their intellectual experiences and the flexibility of their minds than about the amount of specialized instruction such students have had. Recognizing that deficiencies in general educational background will only in rare instances be made up after college, many industries are selecting future employees from among those who have had a good record and a rounded education, leaving such specialized training as is needed later to be learned at work.
"Even the success of the most competent specialist depends upon general capacities. The man of deep understanding, of rich culture, of flexible mind, will not long be at a disadvantage in competition with those who have merely acquired a vast amount of technical information. The dramatically swift success of the narrowly trained practitioner is ultimately overshadowed by the achievement of the person of philosophic grounding."
Albert Einstein, who is frequently thought of as a specialist, has said of specialized education:
"I want to oppose the idea that the school has to teach directly that special knowledge and those accomplishments which one has to use later directly in life. The demand,, of life are much too manifold to lot such a specialized training in school appear possible. The school should always have as its aim that the young man leave it as a harmonious personality, not as specialist. The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge. If a person masters the fundamentals of his subject and has learned to think and work independently, he will surely find his way."
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other vocational training, which should be a part of every person's education, the preparation of our students should not be for a single purpose not for any single element of living, but for varied phases of living. The various elements of education. should be pursued in vital relation to each other, so that for any person the result will be the best practical all-round development, together with effective training in his own field of work.
6. Increasing Interest in General Education-Scarcely any other educational movement in the Western world in recent decades is more far-reaching and significant than that away from premature or excessive specialization, and toward what is called general education. The American Council of Education, which is a council of all the chief educational associations in the United States in reporting on its extensive five-year study of general education stated "General education is the most discussed topic of college and university education today". Among large American universities which require a "core programme" of basic courses for every student are Columbia, Chicago, Florida, and Iowa. Other universities and colleges have set up departments of general studies in which a student may do the general part of his work for a four year undergraduate college course. It is found that such courses serve as an admirable introduction to advanced study.
Among the suggestions for improving higher education which we have received during the course of our visits to the universities scarcely any has been more frequently or more vigorously presented than the need to escape from the extreme specialization which now prevails. From our own observations and study of the situation, we are impressed with the need for general changes in accord with these suggestions.
7. The Content of General Education-The ways by which a person can get a general acquaintance with his world are fairly well known. Understanding of the physical environment is enlarged and deepened by the sciences of physics and chemistry, and of geography, geology, meteorology (the science of weather) and astronomy. The world of living things is given clearer and greater meaning by the study of biology, physiology and psychology. The affairs of humanity come to be more, intelligible and interesting through study of man's make-up and background (anthropology), the records of his actions (history), his social behaviour and unofficial relations (sociology), and his methods of meeting his material needs (economics), and his ways of controlling and organizing human relations (politics and government). The achievements of men in thought and feeling are preserved and disclosed in literature and the fine arts. Ability to deal with things and affairs with definiteness.
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and to observe and think with exactness, is aided by mathematics. Finally, intelligent interest in human purpose, motive and direction may be assisted by a study of ethics, philosophy and religion. No one of these kinds of experience can be understood as an isolated subject, but each must be understood in its relation to others.
8. The Approach to General Education-How to help young men and women to be best equipped for interesting and effective living in all these various relationships is the problem of general education. We should not overcrowd the curriculum or give a smattering of different subjects. The aim of general education should be to select from the vast total of human knowledge elements which are most significant and representative, and to present them in such a way as to lead to an understanding of controlling principles and chief classes of phenomena, with typical illustrations and cases; to the habit and capacity of objective critical inquiry; to creative thinking, to the habit of applying one's knowledge to the solving of his own problem; to an attitude of interest and curiosity which will be expressed in awareness and continued growth; and to current enjoyment of living.
In many cases efforts to achieve good proportion between the so- called humanities and science, and between general and vocational education, have been by means of expedients and devices, without clear thinking as to the aims being pursued. For instance, in general education there is a tendency to dismiss the field of "science" with the demand that a student take "some science subject" of his own choice, limiting his introduction to science to a single field. This may have the value of acquainting him with the scientific method and of giving him some familiarity with one limited area but it does not serve the purpose of making him at home in the world he lives in. One may take a course in chemistry and yet be almost wholly ignorant of the biological sciences and of the physical environment as disclosed by physical geography, geology and astronomy.
As another illustration of reliance on arbitrary expedients and devices, there has been a tendency in Europe and America to devote the first half of a four year course to general education and the last half to specialization. A similar tendency is in evidence in India. This practice has some very undesirable results. From time immemorial boys and girls of fifteen years and older have craved to be at the work of their lives, or at least to be definitely preparing for it. To postpone satisfaction of that craving often results in a feeling of frustration and loss of interest, and very often in a half conscious rebellion against an educational process which seems to them to lack vitality. Vocational preparation should begin as early
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in life as a boy or girl craves it, and should be closely associated with general education.
Another undesirable effect of the habit of using the first part of the university years for general education and the latter part for specialized education is that general education suffers by that arrangement. In the later years of specialization the general liberal interest tend to be forgotten, or to be looked upon as the relatively unimportant concerns of adolescence. Specialization comes to seem' the really important part of education and of life.
General education and specialized or vocational education should proceed together. Specialized or vocational education may Well begin even below the intermediate school, as soon as a boy or a girl shows a live interest in some field. On the other hand, some elements of general education should continue to the end of the period of college or university training.
Of boys and girls who continue schooling beyond the eighth year, a considerable number will continue for only a year or two. For them, years nine and ten should include a considerable element, at least a half of the total time, given to specific vocational training and the remainder to general education. For those who plan four years of secondary school, but will go no further, the element of general education might vary from over a half of the time for the first year to about a third for the fourth year, the rest being given to vocational education. For students planning to continue to college and university, the greater part of the classroom time for the four years of secondary school may well be given to general education. Time spent in, part-time practical work would not be included in any of these estimates, but only that given to the more formal academic programme. This time distribution, however, is not to be taken as final or rigid. It is stated here only as a suggestion and each college and university will have to work out the details of the scheme with reference to its special needs and specific character.
9. Importance of Selection of Material for General Education Courses-In view of the limitless ranges of human knowledge, any effort to get a general view may seem utopian. To quote Whitehead, "A student should not be taught more than he can think about." Selection is the essence of teaching. Even the most compendious survey is only the rudest culling from reality. Since the problem of choice can under no circumstances be avoided, the problem becomes what, rather, than how much, to teach; or better, what principles and methods to illustrate by the use of information; To the extent that a student becomes aware of the methods he is using, and critically conscious of his presuppositions, he learns to transcend his speciality and generates a liberal outlook in himself.
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The concept of all-round education requires rigorous and dis- criminating examination of the contents of every project, and of the course as a whole, to see that the more important elements are included and the less important eliminated. Such examination will radically change the contents of many courses now given in our universities, will eliminate some courses entirely, and will introduce others. In a live society that process of revision will never be, come plete. It is one of the most exacting in higher education and require live interest, creative thinking and much freedom of exploration. It is greatly handicapped by such regimentation of teaching as now exists in our universities.
There is a common impression that the conventional degree of detail in which subject is taught is reasonable and essential and that any lesser degree of detail would cease to be thorough teaching, and would. be a smattering. On the contrary, the degree. of detail in which a subject is taught has no necessary relation to scholarship. In some cases great detail is of the very essence of accurate scholarship. In other cases excess of detail may be a serious impediment to clear scholarly treatment. It was said of a great physicist that be had capacity to take a great mass of detailed information and to emerge with conclusions of clear, simple brevity. We have seen zoology courses in our universities so loaded down with taxonomic details that the student would. have difficulty in getting over-all scientific concepts. We have seen other, much briefer, courses in which students were made acquainted with the methods of critical scholarship. General education, if wisely directed, will result in a new quality of mental range and grasp by helping students to understand general principles by means of pertinent cases.
10. Science in General Education-As a part of general education for living, every step of education from primary school to the completion of undergraduate university work should include teaching of science. The place of science in general education should be to help the student to understand and to use the scientific method, and to have an active and intelligent interest in the whole of the physical and biological world, and to achieve those results without taking so much time as to crowd out other equally vital interests.
In each of the major fields of science the student should. become acquainted with the basic vocabulary in that field, with the major concepts, and with typical cases or illustrations which will make the concepts real to him. The aim in science for non-science students in general education should not be to make the student a qualified scientist in each field, but to give him such introduction to each that his general reading and experience in that field will be interesting
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and intelligent, and that his self-education in each field shall be facilitated.
For students making some science their chief field and initial course in that science should commonly have a different treatment than that included in the general education of the non-scientific student. It may be more detailed, more rigorous, more in the nature of a foundation for later specialization in that field. The aims of all- round unified general education cannot be well achieved without loss of time unless this need is recognized for different kinds of science courses for science and non-science students.
11. The Humanities in General Education-Whitehead writes, "The true task of education is so to reconcile the sense of pattern and direction deriving from heritage with the sense of experiment and innovation deriving from science that they may exist fruitfully together".
Each age tends to feel that its particular contribution to human life and culture is most important, and tends to ignore what other ages have achieved. It is the business of the humanities to conserve and to transmit the achievements of the human spirit and to discover their applications to the life of today. General education in the humanities should aim to give each student a substantial introduction to each of the major disciplines included in the liberal tradition. It is not enough that the student be introduced to literature or history or philosophy or the fine arts. In each field he should get his bearings, learn the basic vocabulary, become acquainted with the central concepts and with illustrations or cases, and should be on the way to life-long interest and self-education in each field. Just as the scientific temper disciplines and informs any study in the humanities, so history, language and philosophy discipline and inform science. For instance, science cannot be at its best without the critical study of language. We think largely with the use of words, which are symbols for ideas. Unless we learn to use and to organize words clearly and effectively our thinking will lack precision and accuracy. Effective use of language is a powerful help to good scientific thinking, and especially to communication in science, as well as a necessity in the humanities.
12. General Education in Secondary Schools-General education at the secondary stage should include an acquaintance with one's physical environment; an introduction to the basic ideas of science, physical and biological; the precise and effective use of languages as a means of communication, an appreciation of the higher values of life as enshrined in literature; and an understanding of the processes involved in working living together. These should be presented
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with great simplicity in the early years and with gradually increasing range and thoroughness as the years pass.
Students in classes nine and ten can be easily made familiar with the outstanding elements of their physical environment, with the stars above, the rocks around, the significance of geographical forms and location, the meaning of the inevitable experience of weather, climate and air conditions. They can be made aware of the general behaviour of matter and energy. They can be introduced to the plant and animal life that surrounds them and made conscious of the ways in which a man's physical life and health may be made to sustain his life purposes. The same applies to a purposeful teaching of language and literature, mathematics, the elements of social sciences and the fine arts. The amount of language required will vary at different stages of education and in different parts of India. During grades one to five the pupils will learn only the mother tongue; in grades six to eight emphasis should be on the mother tongue and the federal language; from grades nine to twelve the study of English will be added to these' Students whose mother tongue happens to be the federal language will be required to study another classical or modern Indian language.
By the time a student has completed secondary school (high school or intermediate college), if he is intelligent and has been well taught be may have such an introduction to several of the fields mentioned that he can read and observe understandingly in each field, and can continue his self-education without further formal teaching.
We are strongly of the opinion that the content of general edu- cation, as indicated above, should be incorporated in the secondary school and college- courses. We do not propose, in this place, to review each stage of education and suggest how this content of general education could be related to it. Taking our present arrangement we suggest for the consideration of the authorities concerned the following modified scheme of courses, which without departing too radically from our practice may help to make that practice more consistent with itself and less open to serious educational objection than it is now.
The course of study in the ninth and tenth grades may include-
1. Mother Tongue (Correct and effective use of language, acquaintance and appreciation of select literature).
2. Federal Language (Comprehension and use in simple everyday situations).
A Classical or Modern Indian Language (for those whose mother tongue is the federal language).
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3 English (Comprehension and simple composition).
4. Elementary Mathematics.
5. General Science (Physical and Biological).
6. Social Studies (including a brief outline of world history with special emphasis on the history and geography of India).
7. 8. Not less than two of the following subjects-
(a) A classical language.
(b) A modern language.
(c) Additional Mathematics.
(d) Physics.
(e) Chemistry.
(f) Biology.
(g) Additional History.
(h) Music.
(i) Painting
(j) Craft-work.
(k) Domestic Science.
(l) Book-keeping and Accounts.
(m) Typewriting and Commercial Practice.
(n) Agricultural Science.
(o) General Engineering Science..
The course of study in the eleventh and twelfth grades will include the following-
1. Mother Tongue.
2. Federal Language.
or
A Classical or Modern Indian Language (for those whose In other tongue happens to the federal language).
3. English.
4. General Science (Physical and Biological).
or
Social Studies (including elements of Economics and Civics) 5-7. Not less than two of the following subjects-
(a) History (Indian, European, World).
(b) Geography (and Geology).
(c) Economics.
(d) Civics.
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(e) A Classical Language (Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic,Latin, Greek).
(f) A Modern Indian Language (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu etc.).
(g) A Modern European Language (English, French, German, etc.).
(h) Logic.
(i) Psychology.
(j) Music.
(k) Drawing.
(l) Home Science.
(m) Physiology and Hygiene.
(n) Mathematics.
(o) Physics.
(p) Chemistry.
(q) Biology.
(r) Elements of Accountancy and Book-keeping.
(s) Elements of Banking.
(t) Business Methods.
(u) Economic History and Economic Geography.
(v) Steno-Typing.
(w) Industrial Organization.
(x) Commercial Arithmetic.
(y) Elements of Soil Science.
13. General Education in Colleges-General education should con- tinue into the more mature years of the student's life. It should aim at making him familiar with his physical and social environments, and with human institutions, aspirations and ideals.
He should have an understanding of the phenomena of nature around him, both animate and inanimate, and should acquire habits of precision in their observation and measurement: should know of the evolution of fundamental scientific concepts, of cross-fertilization of one science by another, and of the social significance of scientific advance and its bearing on his own personal health, mental and physical.
He should have an understanding of his social heritage and of the problems of organised society, and should develop intelligent social attitudes for effective participation in community life. He Should be aware of the moral, intellectual and aesthet value expressed in literature, art, religion and philosophy.
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One of the fundamental defects of our education is the failure to recognise that fine arts like music and painting, drama and sculpture are authentic statements of experience. In the graphic and plastic arts man has recorded his deepest insights about life through colour, form and sound. They heighten and diffuse aesthetic sensibility and good taste and made us sensitive to beauty in all its forms. The study of the arts in general education should aim chiefly at the appreciation of arts as forms of human expression, at, the awakening of students' sensibility to beauty, and his desire to create beauty in his every day surroundings.
These objectives can be achieved by giving courses in mathe- matics, scientific method, physical science, biology, and psychology; in social studies (economics, politics, history, administration) and in the humanities (literature, philosophy and art).
The universities will have to devise ways and means for giving these general courses to their undergraduate students and naturally work out the scheme in their own distinctive manner. They will, perhaps, have a different number of such courses in various places, and the time devoted to them may also differ. We think it should be possible to organize, say, ten to twelve 3-month general education courses of 20-25 hours to cover this ground.
We suggest a similar course during each of the three college years to deal with religious values. During the first year such a course might well treat of the lives of great religious leaders of all faiths; the second year may be used for presenting the most universal elements of the great religious scriptures; and the third year class may be engaged in a study of the problems of philosophy of religion.
Of the general education courses the student may select just those which cover the ground not effectively covered by his special subject, and leave the rest. A student of physics may, for instance drop the general courses in mathematics, scientific method and physical science, as he will have more detailed courses in the same fields. A student of economics or history may leave out some of the general courses in social studies. A student specializing in philosophy may waive the general courses in philosophy and psychology. On an average each student will have to take about nine of these general courses which works out to one course per term, for the three years of undergraduate education.
14. First Degree Course: Arts and Science-This will be of three years' duration. In addition to these courses on general education and religion Arts and Science students, whether for the Pass or the Honours courses, will have to study-
(1) The Federal Language, or if that happens to be the mother tongue, a Classical or a Modern Indian Language;
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(2) English.
(3) and (4) For Arts students, not less than two special subjects, preferably one from each group:
Humanities Social Studies
(1) A Classical or a Modern
Indian Language. (7) Politics.
(2) English, French or-German. (8) Economics.
(9) Sociology.
(3) Philosophy. (10) Psychology.
(4) History. (11) Anthropology.
(5) Mathematics. (12) Geography.
(6) Fine Arts. (13) Home Economics.
(3) and (4). For Science students, not less than two special
subjects from the following list-
(1) Mathematics.
(2) Physics.
(3) Chemistry.
(4) Botany.
(5) Zoology.
(6) Geology.
The course in the Federal Language or the alternative and English may end either at the end of the first, second or third year, as the case may be, according to the degree of proficiency of the candidate. Candidates for the first degree course would have had 6 years of tuition in the Federal language or its alternative and four years of tuition in English in the secondary schools. Among the optional subjects there will be provision for the intensive study, of a Classical Indian or Modern language, federal or regional, as well as for the study of European language, English, French or German.
It is unfortunate that we have not realised sufficiently the importance of the study of classics in our languages. A recent writer has said: "The difference between an educated man and an uneducated man is that the uneducated man lives only for the moment, reading his newspaper and watching the latest moving picture, while, the educated man lives in a far wider present, that vital eternity in which the psalms of David and the plays of Shakespeare, the epistles of Paul and dialogues of Plato, speak with the same charm and power that made them immortal the, instant they were written."1 Ptolemy may be superseded by Copernicus, but not