COMPLETE LIVING AIM OF EDUCATION

   COMPLETE LIVING AIM OF EDU:-

The eminent naturalistic philosopher, educationist and biologist of the nineteenth century Herbert Spencer expounded complete living aim of education. He said that education should bring about the whole-some development which enables an individual to face all problems of life in all spheres and solve them with great courage and conviction.

He asserted that the chief task of education is to enable the individuals to prepare for life and the art of life consists of right ruling of conduct in all directions under all circumstances. In this connection he says that education must tell us “in what way to treat the body; in what way to manage out affairs; in what way to bring up our family; in what way to behave as a citizen; in what way to utilize those sources of happiness which nature supplies— how to use all facilities to the greatest advantage of ourselves and others”.

So, education should acquaint us with the laws and ways of complete living. He writes in his treatise “on Education”, “To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge, and the only mode of judging any educational course is to judge in what degree it discharges such function”. He identified certain activities which have bearing upon complete living according to their respective values in order of priority.

1. Activities relating to self-preservation directly are those subjects like physiology, hygiene, physics, chemistry which help in self-preservation. Activities related to self-preservation indirectly include subjects like Mathematics, Biology, Sociology and Physics.

2. Activities pertaining to rearing and bearing of offspring’s are the subjects like physiology, domestic science, psychology which help in understanding the principles of child’s growth and development.

3. Activities relating to social and political duties include subjects like history, political science and economics which help the individuals to perform socio-political duties so that one can live properly.

4. Activities relating to utilization of leisure time profitably include subjects like art, music, poetry, painting, literature, drama etc. which serve the end by satisfying leisure time needs.