Knowledge and Curriculum Unit 3 Child Centered Education

1. UNIT 3
CHILD CENTERED EDUCATION

2. UNIT 3
CHILD CENTERED EDUCATION
Meaning and characteristics of Child centered
education – Educational thoughts of Mahatma
Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, John Dewey, Plato,
Paulo Freire with special reference to the three
concepts: activity, discovery and dialogue relating to
child centered education.

3. Child Centered Education -Meaning

7. EDUCATIONAL THOUGHTS OF
• MAHATMA GANDHI
• RABINDRANTH TAGORE
• JOHN DEWEY
• PLATO
• PAULO FREIRE

8. MAHATMA
GANDHI
(1869 – 1948)

12. A)Immediate Aims B) Ultimate Aims
a) Vocational Aim a) Spiritual Development
b) Cultural Aim
c) Character Aim
d)Perfect Development Aim
e) Dignity of Lab our
f) Training for Leadership
g) Individual and Social Aims

13. CURRICULUM

14. • Education through craft
• Medium of Instruction : Mother Tongue
• Emphasis on Activity Method:
Learning by doing
Lecture Method
Questioning / Discussion Method

16. RABINDRANTH
TAGORE

17. His Philosophy
As a Vedantist :
•He had a firm belief in the philosophy of veda
•He believed in “I am Brahama”
•There is a spiritual bond between man and man
As an Individualist :
• He believed in giving right type of freedom to individual
• Every individual is unique

18. As an idealist :
• he believed that the man should live for the ultimate truth which
liberates us from cycle of birth and death
• had faith in absolute values
As a Spiritualist :
• He believed that every individual should try to attain spiritual
perfection
As a Humanist :
• He preached human brotherhood,having faith in fundamental unity
of mankind

19. He remarked that “ Even God depends upon man for perfecting his
Universe”
As an Naturalist :
• He considered nature as a great teacher
• God revealed himself through various forms, colors and rhythm
of nature.
Tagore’s Internationalism:
• He was an ardent prophet of world unity
• He believed in world brotherhood

22. Teaching Methodology

26. Teaching Methodology

28. JOHN DEWEY
(1859 -1952)

33. PLATO
( 424/423 – 348/347 BC)

34. • Every individual should devote his life to what is best fitted
for him to do
• The important function of education is to determine what
every individual is by nature capable and fitted of doing things
• Poor leadership will lead to wrong decision
• Social justice is giving what is due to whom it is due

35. • The physical objects are not permanent representations of
unchanging ideas alone give true knowledge as they are known
by mind
• Intellectual aristocracy is the rule of intellectual elite
• An individual who should be endowed with superior
intelligence and possessed impeccable integrity

36. He distinguished between the reality presented to us by
our senses sight, touch, taste, sound and smell and the
essence or form of that reality. In other words, reality is always
changing – knowledge of reality is individual, it is particular, it
is knowledge only to the individual knower , it is not universal.

37. Knowledge obtained from senses
i.e. Knowledge of objects,colours,taste,touch etc., But Plato does
not consider this as real knowledge.
An opinion regarding any object, but this knowledge cannot be
relied upon as the views of person differs regarding the same object.
Knowledge through mind or wisdom
It is the highest degree of knowledge which includes virtues like
truth, goodness and beauty. This knowledge is idealistic and is
based on original thinking. The characteristic of knowledge is that
it is found in the form of universal truth.

38. Children enter school at sox where they first
learn the three Rs(Reading, Writing and Counting)
and then engage with music and sports

39. Plato recommended play method at elementary level;
student should learn by doing. And when he/she reaches
the higher level of education, his reason would be trained in
the processes of thinking and abstracting.
Plato wanted motivation and interest in learning. He
was against the use of force in education.
“ Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion
obtains no hold on the mind”
According to Plato “Do not then train youths by
force and harshness, but direct them to it by what
amuses their minds so that you may be better able to
discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius
of each”

40. • The educator is considered to have greatest importance
• He is like torch bearer who leads a man lying in the dark cave, out
of the darkness into the bright light of the outside world.
• The teacher is thus the constant guide of the students
• The teacher must be a person of high integrity and must possess
high self worth.
• He must have pleasing personality, in depth knowledge and
professional training.
• He should be deeply committed to his profession, have high sense
of responsibility and a true role model. Teachers should lead a true
moral life. They should practice what they preach.

41. PAULO FREIRE
(1921 –1997 )

49. Conclusion
Children are active participants in their own education
and development. This means that they should be mentally
involved and physically active in learning what they need to
know and do. Child centered has been an important foundation
of early childhood education.