The Role of the Arts in Tagore’s Concept of Schooling

Abstract

The present article focuses particularly on the role and significance of the arts in the process of primary schooling in Tagore’s school. He defined education as that which is one with life, and he believed that only education can give us real freedom. It is therefore essential that in the process of education we achieve the all-round development of the individual forharmonious adjustment to reality. The arts should be an essential part of life and of education, as it is only through the arts that it is possible to express one’s experience and recognition of the harmonious connection between the universe, the individual reality and immortality, in addition to their being a source of pleasure. Only the arts (and nature as a teacher)enable the development of the entire personality, as well as the perception of reality and truth. Tagore thus understands the role of the arts in the life of the individual as a key factor in the formation of his/her personality, contributing to humanity.