PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
“Can there be Education without Knowledge?”
INSIGHT #7
Prachana returned from her monthly visit to the Book Lending Library in the nearby town carrying a bunch of books on varying topics. This has been her practice for the last few years once she started traveling alone through the deserted 2 km forest tracks. That day, she could not forget the incident that happened at the library.
Michael Chacha, the one who runs the fairly large library used to suggest her books to read by guiding her to any row of shelves. Most of the time, her choices were random. But today, when she stood in front of him in anticipation, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked over his shoulder to an old man with a long beard sitting at a table behind him. That man had an uncanny resemblance to Sarvaa. Without even looking up, he hand gestured Michael Chacha to give the books which were kept on his table, to Prachana. Michael Chacha picked up those books and gave them to Prachana. She felt a little weird. Without looking at the titles, she picked up all the books and walked home.
She was eager to reach home and see the new selection of books given by the old man. After a quick dinner standing in the kitchen, she rushed to her room upstairs. She spread all the books on the bed. She was amazed at the selection of the books. They varied from Mythology to Biographies to Cooking to Paintings to Theatre to Sports to Science. She was thrilled. She didn’t know which one to pick up. One bright orange-coloured book caught her attention. The title of the book was artistically etched in gold “The Book of Knowledge”. Holding that book on her chest, she lied on top of all the books. She slowly slipped into a deep sleep. It was earlier than the normal time of her sleep.
She woke up when she felt the book being pulled out. When the last finger gave way, she woke up in a shock. In one brisk move she stood up on the right side of the bed. She didn’t see anyone but the usual light of Sarvaa was present in the room. Seeing her shock, he smiles mildly. He made the sound of the book closing with a bang. Again, Prachana turned in the direction of the sound quickly to see Sarvaa holding the Orange Book. Smiling, he asked her to sit on the chair and he picked up all the books and kept all of them on the table, one top of the other neatly, except the Orange book.
Showing the cover of the book to Prachana, he said “My Child, Knowledge is wealth. Equal to the Values though that doesn’t imply education. Education without knowledge is futile. Knowledge without understanding is meaningless.”
A confused Prachana sat still on her straight back chair looking straight at Sarvaa who is now sitting comfortably on her bed with one leg over the other.
Showing all those stacked books, Prachana asked “I have no clue about any of these! I have seen some folk performances of tribals but I don’t know acting or drama! Though I am healthy, I don’t know much about sports. I love paintings, but I can’t paint. I like reading Biographies but I don’t know how it is useful to me. I cook a bit but not like Mamma who experiments with recipes of her own.”
Sarvaa said “That is where the point lies, Child. The word Knowledge came from the Greek word Gnosis which means knowing through observation or experience. These books will give you the know-how to observe, experience and get trained in all those things you said.”
An excited Prachana suddenly said “Yes… I will learn all these and….” Sarvaa stopped her exciting speech by showing his hand.
He said, “With this, you will only get a broad idea about a broad range of subjects. But, that is important. Your knowledge should be broad. Not narrow and limited.”
Prachana nodded her head hesitantly. It is evident she is either not convinced or understood.
Sarvaa continued “Don’t mistake between education and training. They are distinctly different. While training is something that is done with a specific goal, education is about understanding something. Understanding Painting is different from getting trained to do a great painting. Right?”
Prachana’s face brightened up.
Sarvaa raised his hand again and said “It doesn’t end there. Knowledge about a plethora of subjects, however broad that is, is not enough to consider one as an educated person. Any breadth of knowledge without deeper understanding is not genuine knowledge.”
Prachana’s tight sitting pose got a little loose but an expression-less face. Sarvaa really could not understand whether that was a positive sign or negative. Now it was Sarvaa’s turn to get confused.
Sarvaa paused for a moment, took a deep breath. Prachana found that amusing. She giggled. Sarvaa got relaxed.
He said “Listen, in simple terms, knowing something and understanding the same by reasoning makes you an educated person.” He waited for a moment looking at Prachana’s face hoping for some expression. Prachana smiled and nodded briskly.
A happy Sarvaa continued “So, the breadth and depth of your knowledge help you see things in a new and different perspective. That helps you to become committed to the pursuit of the underlying truth.”
Prachana stood up and went near Sarvaa who kept both his hands on her shoulders.
Sarvaa looked at her face intently and said, “That is what makes an educated person different from an uneducated one.”
Sarvaa handed over the orange book of “Knowledge” to Prachana.
Before vanishing, Sarvaa said “Getting educated is not as simple as that. It is achieving something. And that is a task about which, we will discuss next time.”
End of Insight #7
Reference : R S Peter’s Analysis of ‘Education’
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