India has a rich heritage, deeply associated with values and beliefs. Philosophy was an inseparable aspect of ancient Indian literature. Spanning across Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil or probably all Indian languages that have a literary history; philosophical renderings run through the center. But philosophy was never part of the academic curriculum. Is it time to bring philosophy into Indian schools as research however highlights the importance of philosophy in high schools.
The curriculum of an average Indian school education is becoming complex each day. The educational system is only reflective of the demands and skills sought in the competitive world of today. The maths and science that was once taught in colleges are already on the high school books now. Computers have come down to primary school students. School students of today are increasingly standing up to the expectations of the educational requirements, demanded or expected of them. However the introduction of philosophy to school students is generally ignored by our educational system. While there has been an awareness and gradual induction of philosophy into high schools in the US, we have not seen it as being important.
A New Jersey public school teacher Francis J. Breslin emphasizes that people are generally averse to teaching philosophy in high schools on the grounds that these are taught later in colleges and that high school is already teaching critical thinking without philosophy. Some others are either of the opinion that philosophy is too advanced for high school students or that it is irrelevant.
The importance of philosophical course lies in helping children find answers to such questions like: What is man? ? Does life have a meaning? Why do the many theories about man differ? Why does the universe exist? Why is there suffering in the world? Children develop answers through higher order thinking, analyze the answers with arguments and objections. Children take up positions, justify them, see where they differ with their colleagues, and what can be right or wrong with the case put out to them. It’s not necessary to have books, but just discussions; with students listening to new ideas. School is the right place for philosophy learning.
Matthew Lipman is credited with developing the philosophy program for children, even as early as in 1969. Lipman believed that teaching of philosophy should start early; failing which children would lose their curiosity and philosophical skills as they grow into teens and young adults. He maintained that bringing philosophy into schools would only enhance the educational experience of children. The argument here was, philosophy could contribute to critical thinking, which is vital for all other subjects. Lipman specifically held that college was too late for anyone’s first introduction to critical thinking and associated reasoning, because the education at that level is more focused on habits, career etc., related to the eighteen plus age category.
It’s probably late for us, here in India, to take the initial steps to providing philosophy in schools. However being late is better than never. We have been taking philosophy for granted because we fail to see its need in helping our children in their adult years. We see maths, science, technology and in fact confidence and personality too, as being vital to the success of our children. However all these rests on the foundation of philosophy, which help them see the larger picture. It is the philosophical understandings in them, which help them see, judge, evaluate and respond to circumstances and situations, with the larger picture in mind. There can be no substitute to philosophy, and so let’s bring in philosophy, the earlier the better.
