Using educational thoughts as a policy of decolonization

Abstract

Rabindranath Tagore was a prominent thinker in his time. He was not only a great poet but also a great educationalist. He did not write any educational treatise. His experiment at Santiniketon was the root of his educational thoughts. He was inspired by the Vedanta and Upanishad philosophy. That is why; we can find it in his educational thoughts. He emphasized to involve with one‟s immediate surroundings seeking knowledge. He believed that mother tongue should be the medium of education. He did not believe in any cultural superiority. He believed that only rural development could make the whole country developed. That is why he proposed rural based education to rural reconstruction. He focused one‟s inner perfection. He also pointed out the importance of self-realization which should be the aim of education. He depicted how a school created the prison in the name of education. He was also criticized Macaulay‟s “Minute on Education”. He showed how western educational policy used as a policy of neo-colonialism. He prescribed a new discourse to overcome it.