Naturalism

Definition of Naturalism
Naturalism is not science but an assertion about science.
More specifically it is the assertion that scientific knowledge is final, leaving no room for extra scientific or philosophical knowledge. !.".#erry
Naturalism is a loosely applied in educational theory to

systems of training that are not dependant on schools and books but on the manipulation of the actual life of the educated. $.%.!oss

#rotagonist of Naturalism
&ristotle 'omte (obbes "acon Darwin )amarck (uxley (erbert %pencer "ernard %haw %amual "utler !ousseau etc

Naturalism in *ducation
+n the field of *ducation, naturalism means the development

of the child according to his inherent nature. &ccording to naturalism, the external laws of nature should cooperate with the internal nature of the child for his full natural development.

,orms of Naturalism

'haracteristic of naturalistic edn-"ack to nature. .pposition to bookish nature. #rogressive. Negative *ducation. 'entral position of the child. ,reedom of the child. *mphasis on the training of senses.

Negative education &cc to $.%.!oss,& negative education does not mean a time of

idleness, far from it .+t does not give virtue but protects from vice. +t does not inculcate truth, it protects from error. +t disposes the child to take the path that will lead him to truth when he has reached it, and goodness, when he has ac/uired the faculty of recogni0ing and loving it. &cc to !ousseau, 12ive me a 34 yrs old boy who does not know anything. "y 35 yrs of age, + will teach him so much as other children read in 35 yrs of early life. 6he only difference will be that your student remembers only knowledge and my student will be able to use it in practical life. #ositive edn emphasi0es on the mind 7 tries to make a child an adult whereas negative edn strengthens the sense organs 7 the power of reasoning.

'ontd.&ccording to !ousseau, 18e give too much

importance to words. 8e produce by chattering education chatterers only. +f you are all the time teaching morals only to the child you will make him a fool. +f your mind is always giving instructions to the child, then his mind will become useless. 8hatever the child learns in the play ground is four times more useful than what he learns in the class room.

'ontd.-"ack to nature9&ll the things are good as they come

from the hands of the author of the nature, every where they degenerate in the hands of the nature. !ousseau #rogressive9 Nature wills that children should be children before they are men. +f we seek to pervert the order,we shall produce fruits without ripeness and flavor. !ousseau. ,reedom of the child92od makes all thing good,man meddles with them and they become evil. !ousseau. *mphasis on training of senses9*ducation should prepare the way for reason by the proper exercise of senses. !ousseau.

Naturalism and &ims

'ontd.
6o perfect the human machines9 %ince man is a small machine of the huge machine:universe; hence the aim should be to make the individual to work efficiently .&ccording to $.%.!oss,*ducation must make the human machine as good as possible by attending to its constitution , elaborating it7 making it capable of more 7 more complicated tasks. &ttainment<<.happiness.9"ilological naturalism advocates the attainment of happiness in individual=s life but Mac Dougall asserts that happiness 7 misery come according to the natural conse/uences 7 as such no voluntary seeking after them will be of any use. (ence he emphasi0ed guiding 7 synthesis to attain natural progress 7 natural development. &daptation to envt.9(uman have a natural capacity to adapt to the changing environment for survival .!einforcement by education will give the individual an added capacity to adapt.

'ontd.
#reparation <.existence9&cc to Darwin man has evolved from the lower

form of animals. (ence one has to struggle with the envt. ,or struggle. 6hus edn has to develop such capacities so that the individual becomes victorious in the struggle of life 7 existence in this world.
+mprovement of racial gains9 !acial heritage of culture 7 civili0ational

achievements cannot be transferred from generation to generation by the mere process of inheritance.
Natural development9 *dn should take into account the inborn

tendencies 7 develop them naturally.

&utonomous Development96.#.Nunn insisted that while formulating the

aim, one must keep in mind that dev. +s to be free ,fully autonomous 7 self a/uired.i.e aim of edn should be to develop a self developed self reali0ed individuality.

Naturalism 7 'urriculum

'ontd.
(erbert %pencer advocated 'omplete living aim.

Main Subjects

Subsidiary Subjs.

Methods of 6eaching

Nature as a sympathetic 6eacher

Naturalist do not like that their children should be taught by

teachers who are spoiled by the artificial atmosphere.

,or them nature is the only supreme teacher in whose

contact the children develop naturally.

6he teacher should not impose anything on the students but

should sympathetically 7affectionately behave towards them so that they can naturally develop.
6he teacher is to only to set the stage and allow the child to

act accordingly to his inherent capacities and the teacher is only to act sympathetically observer and guide

Naturalism and discipline

Naturalist advocate, 1Discipline by natural conse/uences

1according to which nature will punish the child if he contravenes law of nature and thus he will learn by conse/uences of his own actions. 6hey decry all kinds of external interference and allow full freedom to the child to think and act accordingly to his interest ,inclinations, aptitudes and capacities. &ccording to (erbert %pencer >s (*D.N+%6+' theory ,pleasure 7 pains are the twin teachers who will discipline the child. 8hen a child falls or runs its head against the table ,it suffers pain, the remembrance of which tends to make it more careful and by reflection of such experiences ,it is eventually disciplined into proper guidance of its movements. (erbart %pencer.

Naturalism and %chool

&cc to them the school environment should be completely free 7 flexible

without no timetable, no ready made do0es of knowledge.

Nature will do the planning 7 processing for the natural development of

the child 7 will structure all the desired experiences to develop the feeling of self learning 7 discipline.
6he %ummer (igh %chool of Neel 7 6agore?s @ishwa "harti are the

models of naturalist schools where in the child develops its personality.

&ll modern and progressive schools adopt the concept of self discipline to

promote self development.

Demerits of naturalism
.ne sided and unsatisfying aims of education. *mphasis on present needs. +gnores books. Andue emphasis on physical education. More importance to scientific subBects. Anlimited freedom of child. An appealing principle of discipline by natural

conse/uences. No importance of teacher. &nti social development.

Merits of Naturalism
Development of child psychology. %cientific study of society 7 sociology. *mphasis on experience centered curriculum. +mportant contribution in the field of education. .pposition to repression in the field of discipline.