Aarthi Srinivasan

Education was a compelling symbol in India’s struggle for independence representing as it did, empowerment, transformation, and liberation. India’s contemporary education system, influenced by neoliberalism has, however, largely focused on curricula, skills, literacy, and educational attainment, while overlooking the concepts of freedom or humanisation advocated by Indian educational philosophers. This article places pre-eminent philosopher of education, Gert Biesta, in conversation with Indian thinker, Jiddu Krishnamurti. The focus of this exchange is to consider, from the perspective of Biesta, the aims and conceptions of education, as proposed by Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti strongly emphasised the importance of a learner-centred approach that would cultivate critical thinking, enable learners to gain a deeper understanding of the integrated processes of life, and provide them an environment for realising their full human potential. The aim of Krishnamurti’s education philosophy was to empower the individual to be free, and capable of dealing with life as a whole, based on the conception of collaborative learning, self-awareness, moral virtues and the ability to live well. Though he acknowledges the importance of technique, curricula, and attainment, Biesta’s approach emphasises that students are not objects who need to be trained. Rather, their development as people with the discernment to know when to act and when to refrain from acting, is a critical function of education. Through its examination of the perspectives of Krishnamurti, from the contemporary standpoint of Biesta’s articulation of the purposes of education, this article argues for the relevance of Krishnamurti’s educational philosophy in India’s current educational realities.