From Philosophy to Practice: Reflected Values in Learners Shaped by Tagore’s Educational Vision
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2026.v11.n06.016Keywords:
Rabindranath Tagore, Value Education, Educational Philosophy, Student Values, Patha Bhavan, SantiniketanAbstract
This paper presents an empirical exploration of how Rabindranath Tagore’s educational philosophy manifests in the value preferences of students at Patha Bhavan, Santiniketan, an institution founded on his pedagogical ideals. Using a self-developed Value Survey comprising 18 values derived from Tagore’s teachings, data were collected from 50 secondary and higher secondary students. Quantitative analysis through frequency distribution, median calculation, and rank ordering revealed a distinct value hierarchy. Humanity emerged as the most internalised value, followed by Confidence and Freedom. In contrast, Innovativeness was identified as the least prioritised. The findings demonstrate a strong alignment between Tagore’s humanistic, freedom-centric vision and the value orientation of the students, validating the role of an ideologically grounded educational environment in shaping ethical and conscious individuals. However, the lower ranking of values such as Innovativeness, Inquisitiveness, and Scientific Temper suggests areas for pedagogical refinement to fully realise Tagore’s integrated and creative vision of education. This study contributes to the discourse on value-based education by providing a methodological framework for assessing the congruence between educational philosophy and student value internalisation.
References
[1] Aronson, A. (1961). Tagore's educational ideals. International Review of Education, 7(4), 385–393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01421343
[2] Bradbury, J. S. (2019). Hinduism and the Left: Searching for the secular in post-communist Kolkata [Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2410631598/abstract/88D210EC6A764943PQ/8
[3] Das, P., & Bera, S. (2020). Influence of Rabindranath Tagore's philosophical thought on school education in present India. Infokara Research, 9(10), 346–354.
[4] Datta, D. (2018). Connecting cultures: Rethinking Rabindranath Tagore's 'ideals of education.' Social Identities, 24(3), 412–423. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1387042 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1387042
[5] Debbarma, S. (2015). A study on educational thought's of Rabindra Nath Tagore in relevance to the present context. https://old.rrjournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/04-06_RRIJM17020602.pdf
[6] Ghosh, R., Naseem, M. A., & Vijh, A. (2010). Tagore and education: Gazing beyond the colonial cage. In Decolonizing philosophies of education (pp. 59–71). SensePublishers. https://brill.com/downloadpdf/display/book/edcoll/9789460916878/BP000006.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-687-8_5
[7] Gorden, T. (2022). Rabindranath Tagore's educational philosophy in contemporary Indian society. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4117590
[8] Goswamee, G., & Saikia, R. (2017). A study on the educational philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore and its influence on elementary education with special reference to Assam. The Clarion-International Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(2), 71–74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/2277-937X.2017.00031.4
[9] Gour, S. (2014). Educational philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore and MK Gandhi. Indian Streams Research Journal, 4(7). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2485708
[10] Hauck, J., & Chowdury, A. (2025). Rabindranath Tagore and the education of children for life. In J. M. Maldonado-Duran, A. Jimenez-Gomez, & M.-X. Maldonado-Morales (Eds.), Handbook of child and adolescent development and education (pp. 459–467). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98319-1_34 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98319-1_34
[11] Kabir, H. (2020). Thoughts of becoming: Negotiating modernity and identity in Bangladesh [Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2454399311/abstract/88D210EC6A764943PQ/5
[12] Kumar, N. (2015). The educational efforts of Rabindranath Tagore. In D. Banerji (Ed.), Rabindranath Tagore in the 21st century (Vol. 7, pp. 131–144). Springer India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2038-1_10 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2038-1_10
[13] Mandal, M. K. (2013). Open learning and Rabindranath Tagore's idea on mass education: A critical study on Lokshikkha Samsad. Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, 8(2), 55–65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/AAOUJ-08-02-2013-B005
[14] Marsh, C. E. (2013). Towards one world: A journey through the English essays of Rabindranath Tagore [Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1651896521/88D210EC6A764943PQ/1
[15] Mukherjee, H. B. (1962). Education for fulness. Asia Publishing House. https://api.taylorfrancis.com/content/books/mono/download?identifierName=doi&identifierValue=10.4324/9780367853105&type=googlepdf
[16] Quader, A. (2015). Emerging Bengali nationalism during 1947-1971 and the decomposition of Pakistan [Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1767220825/abstract/88D210EC6A764943PQ/6
[17] Quayum, M. A. (2022). Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore. In Rabindranath Tagore's journey as an educator (pp. 119–139). Routledge India. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003157762-8/education-tomorrow-mohammad-quayum DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003157762-8
[18] Singh, D. (2017). Concept of Swadeshi in the Indian national movement [Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2054001478/abstract/88D210EC6A764943PQ/4