David horsburgh biography

To the teachers, the process to be followed was laid clear — teach a child to read and write, how to learn by enquiry, by finding davids horsburgh biography to her own question and then, finally, when she knows the first two, keep motivating her to learn. This was the broader role of a teacher at Neel Bagh. To this effect, the relationship between the teacher and the student was crucial.

Krishnamurthy advocated that things happened through relationships. Partly influenced by this thought, greater emphasis was laid on the teacher-student relationship, which was to be based on unconditional love and absence of activities that made students compete with each other. Competition and reward were regarded as negative traits that prevented children from co-operation and team work.

A unique feature at the school was the question hour, where students would gather and raise questions that came to their mind. Thus curiosity served as a point of entry and inquiry into a larger area of concern for everyone. For example, a student once asked why a woman walks behind the man and tends to carry the bags. Another anecdote from the question hour session at the school is about a student who wanted to know why her father beat her mother Conversation with Usha and Narsimhan at Sumavanam, Madanapalle, May 8, These observations emerged from what children observed in their village and they made for genuine inquiry.

One could only imagine the curiosity and observational ability of the child and the system that allowed for such a question to be asked. These questions provided an environment where understanding was arrived at by the whole group together rather than being taught in a monologue fashion by a teacher. Questioning too was not being taught, but inquisitiveness itself was a part of the school system.

It is noteworthy that the question hour sessions were held without a predetermined agenda. The social control was always vested with the students themselves. This ensured lifelong learning. Thus, one could suggest that David sought to marry the aims of liberal education with the methods of progressive education, while adopting simplicity and non-violence as ideals Conversation with Rohit Dhankar, Azim Premji University, May 10, The teacher trainees of Neel Bagh recall their time spent there as a formative period in shaping their understanding of education and influencing their work in this field in the years ahead.

Malathi felt that Neel Bagh was a place which practiced a different form of education. I was always responding to the situation. It was a practicing institution which functioned much like a medical college that houses a hospital and where trainee doctors could learn by practice. Later on his son Nicholas Horsburgh took the responsibility of the school.

Nicholas adopted the school module created by his father and taught many students in the school before returning to the UK. Like his father, Nicholas not only taught school students but also trained many tecahers. Prateek Srivastavawho volunteered as a cinematographer for the project, caught the documentary's beautiful visuals. Contents move to sidebar hide.

David horsburgh biography

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. British educationist. Activity-based learning [ edit ]. Impact on India [ edit ]. Characteristics of activity-based learning [ edit ]. Blended Learning [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 22 January Archived from the original PDF on Retrieved Archived from the original on Teacher Plus January Archived from the original on 5 March Retrieved 5 January The Economic Times.

Further reading [ edit ]. Portal : Education. Category : Education in India.