Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Liberal Education: U of R vs. Gandhi
When Gandhi spoke of a liberal education, he made me think of the university of Richmond. Defining liberal education, Gandhi writes, "That man I think has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will and does with ease and pleasure all the work that as a mechanism it is capable of...who has learnt to hate all vileness and to respect others as himself. Such a one and no other, I concieve, has had a liberal education, for he is in harmony with nature. He will make the best of her and she of him" (54). Gandhi's definition of a liberal education highlights the full functionality of the body and the mind, as well as the possesion of morality. At college, specifically U of R, a liberal arts education is defined along the same lines. This type of education creates well rounded individuals who can thrive in many diverse scenarios. Like the coordination of the mind and the body, students with liberal arts education can interpret mathmatcial equations and well as philosophical texts. Both definition of liberal arts educations stress the concept of balance. Balance is what separates one from the pack. A person with balance can do it all and often possesses more value than a one-sided person.
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Peyton I agree with you, but i think Ghandi values a religous education with higher esteem than an education based on what the west considers useful such as a liberal arts education. ghandi states, "I have learned Geography, Astronomy, Algebra, Geometry, etc...In what way have I benefited myself or those around me? Why have i learned these things(54)? Ghandi states that "...whether you take elementary education or higher education, it is not required for the main thing. It does not make men of us. It does not enable us to do our duty"(54). Instead, Ghandi goes on to say that, "...the energy that we have derived from English education will have to be devoted to religous education(57). Ghandi wants attention to be turned away from the traditional English education because it does not teach useful things. Ghandi thinks that an education based on religion will benefit indians more because it will help them be better hindis. Having good moral values is more important to Ghandi than being a resceptacle for uselesss facts and information. This discussion of Ghandi's is interesting because it has less idealism than other sections of the book. There seems to be more practicalness in his ideas rather than idealism. Ghandi wnats to use only what is useful in education.
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