ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY
CENTRE MALAPPURAM
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
AN ASSIGHNMENT
ON
SOCIALISM AND EDUCATION
SUBMITTED TO
DR. SYED HAYAT BASHA
SUBMITTED BY
JWEL
HOQUE
ROLL NO- 14 B.ED (K) 04
SOCIALISM
Socialism is a social and economic
system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative
management of the economy, as well as a political theory and movement that aims
at the establishment of such a system.
A socialist economic system is based on some
form of social ownership of the means of production, which
may mean autonomous cooperatives or direct public ownership;
wherein production is carried out directly for use.
According to
Daniel De Leon, “Social system under
which the necessary of production are own, control and administered by the
people, for the people under which accordingly the cause of political and
economic disposition having been abolished, class rule is at end, that is
socialism, nothing sorts of that”.
The proper
education of the rising generation must be one of the principal tasks of the
new society. Every newly born is a welcome addition to society, for society
sees in him the prospect of its continuation and its own further development
and, therefore, also feels the duty to defend the new human being to the best
of its ability. Hence, the prime object of its care is she who gives birth, the
mother. Comfortable housing, pleasant surroundings, all sorts of provisions
necessary to this stage of motherhood, careful nursing for her and the child,
are the first requirement. It is self-evident that mothers should breast-feed
their babies for as long as is possible and necessary. Moleschott, Sonderegger,
all hygienists and doctors agree that nothing can fully substitute mother's
milk.
Socialism and Education
The history behind how socialism entered
and became dominant in our education system is not well publicized. All modern
publishers are graduates of liberal arts colleges, the stronghold of the
movement, and tend not to publish about such matters.
It began
with a student rebellion. The rebellion of students against authority has been
chronicled since the days of ancient Greece. In more recent history, this type
of rebellion has occurred periodically worldwide for the past two hundred
years. The students rioting in Korea are frightening to watch on television,
throwing bottles of flaming gasoline on the police. Tiananmen square was a
heart-breaker, as those in authority showed no mercy in settling who was still
in charge. It has become clear that German university students consider active
protest as part of their curriculum. Only in America have protesters against
authority been so thorough in their rejection of it. The protesters of the
sixties and early seventies extended their rejection into personal debasement,
deliberately refusing even personal hygiene and sacrificing their personal
dignity through gutter language, obscene literature, and deliberately
promiscuous (sometimes public) sex to demonstrate their contempt for the
authority of the state, school, church, and family. "Don't trust anyone
over thirty" was one of their mottoes.
The National Student Association (NSA) urged its members in
500 colleges to organize demonstrations and boycotts of the Woolworth stores.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) decided that nonviolence
was to be the key-word. During the next year more than 3,000 white activist
students received jail sentences, only a small percentage of those who had
participated. They had, however, been successful. The pressure of their actions
along with the omnipresent television coverage had desegregated many
establishments. Next came the "Freedom Rides," started in May 1961.
Two whites were murdered as a result of this action.
The Marxist influence is seen in the wording of this
proclamation. Marxist doctrine claims that all forms of social discipline, including
religion and education, are for the purpose of controlling the public for
exploitation by the ruling class. The same doctrine claims warfare as one of
the tools of exploitation. As with Marx, Cleveland calls for revolution as the
means of correction.
RELATIONSHIP
OF EDUCATION AND SOCIALISM
Education
will be vastly different under socialism than it currently is under capitalism.
Under the current system, the quality of education is largely choosen by the
capitalist political state, which chooses to educate us in ways that are
beneficial to them. Capitalism is portrayed as the best of all possible
systems, with socialist ideology barely mentioned and almost always
misrepressented as the philosophy of the ill-fated Soviet Union. The name of
Karl Marx is written with scorn, and a better society is considered to be pure
pie in the sky liberalism with no basis in fact. What's worse, the religious
schools teach the metaphysical theory of history, which implies that society is
class-divided due to some ill-defined "natural laws," and
Judeo-Christian dogma is imposed upon its students. Higher education requires
most students to place themselves in massive debt in the hands of legal loan
sharks like Sallie Mae, and allow colleges and universities to charge outrageous
prices for increasingly necessary education. Futher, education is seen as a
temporary thing in life, to be taken up for a few short years and than
permanently abandoned in favor of a job that is predicated upon by a vicious
labor market. In fact, in education under capitalism, from elementary to
graduate school, we are trained to be docile servants of the capitalist class
and to become cogs on the labor market. Free thinking, as taught by the liberal
arts, is discouraged in favor of "logical" methods of thought (such
as a huge emphasis on mathamatics in education and a noticable de-emphasis in
the teaching of liberal arts) that are uncritical of the society we live in
[this is not to say that mathematics aren't important, because they are; I am
simply saying here that liberal arts are often discouraged for their emphasis
on critical thinking and math is pushed on students in its place]. Even under
the aforementioned liberal arts, alternative methods of running society are
barely glossed over, and we are never taught to think independently enough to
criticize the system. After all, how can we be thinking critically in a society
that is controlled by a political state that serves a despotic ruling class
whose sole aim is to maintain its status of elitism and privilege, and not to
improve society so that everyone can live a decent and rewarding life?
Under
socialism, the very material basis of our society will change and improve, and
consequently, so will education. One of the biggest problems affecting the
education system today is the adoption of a Christian inspired tenet imbedded
into our minds by the capitalist class that is similar to the one concerning
the nature of work under capitalism: that school (like work) doesn't need to be
fun in order to be beneficial. Socialists heartily disagree! If your
occupation and education are not considered fun and personally
rewarding to you, then the society you live under has a very serious problem.
Education and learning must be made fun for students of all ages and levels,
otherwise it will fail to hold their attention and even be considered
irrelevant to their lives, as well as breeding excessive laziness and a general
scorn for education and school, in the same manner as the laziness and
disinterest that adults display concerning their jobs under capitalism (you may
ask almost any child or adolescant their opinion of our current oppressive
school system to see my point).
SOCIALISM AND
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
The word
socialism was first used during the early years of the 19th century
but many philosophers and reformers in the past expressed this resentment
against inequalities in society and proposed the concept of an egalitarian
society. But no pragmatic programs were put forwarded by them during this
period. The French revolution of 1789 with its promise of equality provided a
new impetus to socialist ideas. It was during the beginning of industrial
revolution that the socialist ideas began to emerge as distinct and powerful
concept. It was during the early decade of the 19th century the
powerful socialist ideas developed different parts of France. St.Simon, Charles
Furrier, Robert Owen, Louis Blanc and others proposed their ideas of socialism
and Marx and Engels put forwarded their theory of Socialism and communism
during the later half of the 19thcentury.
Most of the systems were Utopian which were not supported by powerful movement
and strong theoretical background. But Marx and Engels attacked the Utopian
ideas through their works and uphold the course of scientific socialism.
Through the theory and class struggle and dialetic materialism, they believed
that socialism is a historic necessity. They not only provided the theoretical
back ground for socialism and communism but actively involved in the formation
of working class organization in the different part of Europe.
Socialism
is a political economical theory of social organization which advocates that
the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated
by the community as a whole.
In some respects it differs from communism. In fact the goal of the both is the
same, ie the establishment of classless society, but there is a difference in
them regarding the means of realizing the goal. Communism wants to establish a
socialistic society through force or revolution. It does not accept the
dialectism and materialism of communism. It believes in liberalism and
idealism.
Like communism, socialism is also against capitalism. But instead of snatching
the capital from the capitalists it wants to persuade them intelligently to
give up the same in democratic manner in favour of the general people. It
stands for a mixed economy. It wants that the means of production should
be equitably distributed amongst all. It does not want that a major portion of
the national income should go in the hands of a few. It wants that the state
should control the big industries but at the same time private enterprises,
too, should be allowed to exist. In the same way it does not want to abolish
the rights of private property, but it wants to reorganize and delimit.
Main
features of Socialism:
1. Socialism
aims at establishing a classless society
2. Socialism
aims at social justice, equality and the complete supremacy of the state
3. Socialism
aims at abolishing the capitalist system
4. It
aims at the active participation of the individual in the productive process of
the society
5. It
has little faith in the religious ideas and faith
6. Socialism
ignores spiritual values
Indian
concept of Socialism:
Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru,
Jaiprakash Narayan, are the greatest supporters of socialism. Gandhiji saw
socialism as a way of life. He called it “sarvodaya samaj” in which the gratest
goal of all is the end.
The main features of Indian Socialism:
1. It
is based on equality between man and man
2. Economic
system must be based on human outlook
3. Socialism
does not sacrifice man for man
4. It
believes in building a classless and castles society
5. It
stresses equality, freedom and social justice
6. It
believes in mixed economy, ie public ownership as well as private ownership
7. It
aims at providing special facilities to the weaker section of society
8. It
believes in free expression of values
9. It
is based on democratic ideas
10. It
believes in “non-violence” means to achieve its goals
11. It
stresses in decentralization in administration and planning
Education
and Socialism:
Socialism is a socio economic political doctrine which arose as a revolt
against the capitalism, in Europe in the 19th century. Karl
Marx and Lenin in Russia and Mao in china were the chief architects of
socialism. Socialism aims in establishing a classless society based on the
total supremacy of the state and total submission of the individual to the
state.
Prominent
types of Socialism are,
· Democratic
socialism
· Christian
Socialism
· Fabian
socialism
· Ghandian
Socialism
· Guild
Socialism
· Marxist
Leninist Socialism
· Scientific
Socialism
Socialism
and aims of Education:
1. Development
of democratic out look
2. Development
of socialist values
3. Development
of secular values
4. Providing
equality of opportunity to all for their all round development and welfare
5. Rapid
expansion of educational facilities to all areas
6. Developing
values like ‘dharma’, dignity of labour, non violence, unselfishness and
selfless service etc.
Socialism
and curriculum and methods of teaching:
1. Topics
like democracy, duties of citizens, equality, freedom, rights, secularism,
socialism, social reform movements, non-violence etc. should be taught
2. Group
activities like debates, discussion, social service camps, social
surveys,shramadhan etc. to be organized
3. Inclusion
of socially useful productive work as an essential component of the social
curriculum to be the key note of the curriculum
4. Emphasize
should be laid on polytechnic education vocational and professional courses
5. Introduction
of information technology. Its effective use would enable students to do well
in the in the age of modernization
6. Emphasize
should be given to group method like teaching, seminars, projects etc.
7. Self
discovery method should be encouraged.
Socialization
and equalization of educational opportunities:
1. Giving
free education to economically and socially weaker students
2. Free
text books and uniforms to weaker sections
3. Award
of scholarships
4. Grant
of loans
5. Admission
facilities and special quotas for weaker sections, SC and ST
6. Hostel
facilities
7. Day
study centers
8. Earn
and learn facilities
9. Special
facilities for girls
10. Transport
facilities
11. Special
stress on the education of the backward areas, hill areas, slum areas etc
12. Running
of government schools and local schools
13. Common
and neighbor hood school system at various places
CONCLUSION
The
socialism believes in the power of ballets in place of bullets. It strives to
win freedom for the workers through the majority vote in their favours.
Socialism wants to establish a welfare state in order that each one may get
equal opportunity for development. It stands for individual liberty. It does
not want to impose any measure which may be hindrance in the individual
freedom. In this respect it believes in democratic methods. It recognizes the
importance of manual labour and wants to improve the conditions of labourers
both in rural and urban areas. It does not stands for the rules of the working
class, but wants the government elected through the popular votes.
