Philosophical and Sociological Perspectives of Education: I

By Prof. Mohammad Shaheer Siddiqui, Prof. Anjum Ahmed | Aligarh Muslim University

Learners enrolled: 131

ABOUT THE COURSE:

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

-Sydney J. Harris (American Journalist- 1917-1986)

Education is the foundation of societal progress, and understanding its philosophical and sociological dimensions is key to shaping effective educators. This course, Philosophical and Sociological Perspectives of Education, is tailored for students of the Four-Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme- ITEP;(B.A. B.Ed./B.Sc. B.Ed.)recently started in Indian universities as the ambitious initiative in teacher education by NEP-2020, while course syllabus is also useful for students of B.Ed., M.Ed., M.A. Education, as well UGC-NET aspirants of Education. The course aims to develop a deeper understanding among learners about the philosophical and sociological perspectives of Education. Undoubtedly, Education is a transformative journey shaped by deep philosophical and sociological insights. This course offers an in-depth exploration of foundational philosophical and sociological ideas and their profound relationship with education, drawing from both Western and Indian traditions. It delves into diverse schools of thought, key pedagogical concepts, and the interplay between philosophy and educational practices. Further, from a sociological lens, it examines socialization, the dynamics of social change, feminist perspectives, and the pivotal roles of literature and cinema in shaping post-independent Indian society, thought and education. The course fosters critical thinking and equips future educators with a comprehensive understanding of education's transformative power.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Students enrolled in B.Ed./M.Ed./M.A. Education and 4 Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme-ITEP (IITs and Indian Universities) UGC-NET (Education) Aspirants may also get benefit

PREREQUISITES: Graduation in any discipline (if enrolled in UG) Class XII in any discipline if enrolled in Four Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP)

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Universities/IITs running Professional Programmes in Teacher Education

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Teacher Education
Credit Points :	4
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	21 Jul 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	15 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	25 Oct 2025 IST
NCrF Level	6.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Conceptual Understanding: Philosophy and Education

1. Philosophy: Meaning, Functions and Branches (Metaphysics, Epistemology, Axiology)

2. Education: Meaning, Ideas and Forms

3. Understanding Philosophy of Education: Functions & Interrelations

4. Basic Terms in Indian Context (Darshana, Paraand Apara, Vidya-Avidya, Shiksha, Samvaad, Panchkosha, Gurukulam, Guru-ShishyaParampara, Upadhyaya, Jigyasa)

5. Understanding Schools of Indian Philosophy (Heterodox-Orthodox)

Week 2: Indian Perspective of Education-I

1. Sources of Socio-Philosophical Legacy: Concept and Indian Literature

2. Validity of Knowledge: Six Pramanas

3. Schools of Philosophy: Educational Implications

4. Characteristics of Indian Philosophy

5. Education in Upanishads: Aims, Ideals and Pedagogy

Week 3: Indian Perspective of Education-II

1. Education in Buddhism

2. Education in Jainism

3. Islamic Traditions: Educational Philosophy

4. Sufism: Educational Aspects and Indian Context

5. Bhakti Traditions: Educational Perspectives

Week 4: Western Perspectives of Education-I

1. Characteristics of Western Philosophy

2. Introduction of Western Schools of Philosophy

3. Epistemology: Cognitive, Behaviorist and Developmental theories of Education

4. Naturalism: Educational Implications

5. Idealism-Educational Implications

Week 5: Western Perspectives of Education-II

1. Marxism and Existentialism and their Educational Implications

2. Education in Pragmatism and Progressivism

3. Empiricism and Logical Positivism in Education

4. Post-Modern Philosophies and Education: Characteristics and Trends

5. Understanding Pedagogy: Indian and Western Ideas, Critical Pedagogy

Week 6: Educational Thinkers: Indian

1. Swami Vivekananda: Education for Man-Making

2. Rabindranath Tagore: Harmony in All Existence

3. Mahatma Gandhi: Drawing out of the Best in body, mind and Spirit

4. Jiddu Krishnamurthy: Philosophizing Experiential Learning

5. Gijubhai Badheka: Bal Mandir and Diwaswapn

Week 7: Educational Thinkers: Western

1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Freedom of Child- Emile (1762)

2. Maria Montessori: Child-focused ideology

3. Friedrich Froebel: Kindergarten

4. John Dewey: Learning by Doing

5. Paulo Friar: Pedagogy of Oppressed and Pedagogy of Hope

Week 8: Sociology of Education

1. Approaches to Sociology of Education: Symbolic Interaction, Structural Functionalism and Conflict Theory.

2. Social Institutions and their functions (family, school, religion society),

3. Concept and theories of Social Movements, (Relative Deprivation, Resource Mobilization, Political Process Theory and New Social Movement Theory)

4. Educational thought for Social Change (Feminist Perspective) -I: Mary Wollstonecraft, Simone de Beauvoir and Nel Nodding

5. Educational thought for Social Change (Feminist Perspective) -II: Rokeyya Sakhawat Hossain, Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh

Week 9: Education and Society

1. Society: Meaning, social stratification and historical evolution

2. Educational Sociology and Social Perspective of Education

3. Education as a Social Sub-System

4. Individual and Group Behavior and Purpose of Education

5. Conceptual Understanding: Society, Institution, Ideology, Social System, Socialization, Norms, Conflict, Modernization

Week 10: Education and Values

1. Values and Virtues: Concept, Significance and Types

2. Indian Traditional Values: Convocation message in Taittiriya Upanishad

3. National Values as enshrined in Indian Constitution - Socialism, Secularism, justice, liberty, democracy, equality, freedom with special reference to education

4. Human rights, Sustainable Development and values with reference to 21st Century

5. Cinema and Social Reconstruction: Educational Relevance in Post Independent India

Week 11: Education and Social Change

1. Meaning and Dimensions of Social Change

2. Factors Affecting Social change

3. Literature of Education and Social Change: Pre-and Post-Independent India

4. Constitutional Provisions of Education: Social equality and equity with reference to RTE-Act

5. Education and Modernity: Concept, theories, indigenous vs colonial and post-colonial

Week 12: Education Culture and Socialization

1. Meaning of Culture, Social Mobility, Enculturation and Acculturation

2. Education as Process of Socialization and Role of Different Institutions

3. Education culture and Society: Cultural lag, Cultural Heritage, Indian National culture.

4. School as Miniature of Society: Role of Curriculum, Text Book and Pedagogy

5. Culture and Educational Process-: Social Reforms Movements, Impact of Educational Policies. NEP-2020

Books and references

1. Phillips, D.C. (2010). What is Philosophy of Education? In The SAGE Handbook of Philosophy of Education. Bailey, R. Barrow, Carr, D., & McCarthy, C.(ed.). London: Sage Publications

2. Barrow, R. (2010). Schools of Thought in Philosophy of Education. In The SAGE Handbook of Philosophy of Education. Bailey, R. Barrow, Carr, D., & McCarthy, C.(ed.). London: Sage Publications.

3. Carr, D. (2010). The Philosophy of Education and Educational Theory. In The SAGE Handbook of Philosophy of Education. Bailey, R. Barrow, Carr, D., & McCarthy, C.(ed.). London: Sage Publications.

4. Wilfred Carr (ed.). (2005). Feminism, Epistemology and Education. In The Routledge Falmer Reader in the Philosophy of Education. USA: Routledge

5. Riley, P. &Welchmar, J. (2008). Rousseau, Dewey, and Democracy. In Randall Curren (Ed.). A Companion to the Philosophy of Education. USA: Wiley Publishing

6. Altekar, A.S. (2009) Education in Ancient India, Delhi: Isha Books

7. Chatterjee, S, Datta, D. (2023) An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, New Delhi: Rupa Publications

8. H. B. Mukherjee (2020) Education for Fullness: A Study of the Educational Thought and Experiment of Rabindranath Tagore (Second Edition), New Delhi: Routledge India

9. Hiriyanna, M. (1995) The Essentials of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas

10. Hussain, Abid (1978) The National Culture of India, Delhi: National Book Trust

11. Kabir, Humayun (1961) Indian Philosophy of Education, London: Asia Publishing House

12. Mookerjee, R.K (2016) Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist, Delhi: MLBD

13. Rizvi, S.A.A. (1995) History of Sufism in India: Vol-I & II, Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal

14. Sharma, C. (2016) a Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsi Das

15. Siddiqui, M.S. (2019) Sufism, the Education of Heart-A Brief Introduction to Educational Aspects, Kolkata: 24by7 Publication

16. Sinha, H.P. (1963) Bhartiya Darshanki Rooprekha (Hindi), Patna: Motilal Banarsidas

Instructor bio

Prof. Mohammad Shaheer Siddiqui

Aligarh Muslim University

Prof. Mohammad Shaheer Siddiqui Before joining the Department of Education at AMU, Aligarh in 2021, Mohammad Shaheer Siddiqui has served two other central universities; first as Associate Professor of Education at Tezpur University Assam during 2019 to 2021 and second, during 2010 to 2019 as Assistant Professor at Visva-Bharati Santiniketan, A Central University and Institution of National Importance in West Bengal founded by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. He has also served as a school teacher in Public Education System during 2001 to 2010. For the last 15 years, his main areas of teaching and research interest include Philosophy and Sociology of Education and History of Indian Education. He has a particular passion for Sufism and Indian Spiritual Traditions with their educational relevance. He wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the topic, 'A Critical Study of Sufism with reference to Educational Aspects.' He has done Masters’ Degree in English Literature, Philosophy and Economics), apart from B.Ed. and M.Ed. He has edited three Books and published three Monographs. More than 38 Research papers, articles and book chapters on different themes are credited to his publication journey. He has delivered more than 60 lectures as Resource Persons in UGC-MMTTC, university Departments RIE Bhubaneshwar IPS Academy Hyderabad and NTA Mysore etc. and has presented papers and in more than 40 National and International Conferences in various Institutes of eminence including JNU, BHU, NERIE, NEHU Shillong, NCERT, Central University of Sikkim, , IIAS Shimla etc. Four Scholars have completed their research work in his supervision and awarded Ph.D. and Six Scholars are currently doing Ph.D. in his supervision. He firmly believes in the Education of Heart in Teaching and Learning culture.

Prof. Anjum Ahmed

Prof. Anjum Ahmed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Aligarh Muslim University. she possesses qualifications including M.Sc. in Environmental Science, MA in English, M.Ed., and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, PG diplomas in Environment & Sustainable Development and Educational Technology. She has been teaching both UG and PG levels, Her areas of teaching and research interest include Environmental Education, Gender and School, Population Education, and Art and Creative expressions. She has an extensive academic portfolio, including 28 research articles, nine published psychological tools, and two edited books. Her research contributions include eight research papers focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also worked as a co-course director and organized 10 days workshop on the theme Qualitative Research Methodology with 21st Century Research Skills funded by ICSSR. Moreover, Dr Ahmed has also developed four modules for the SWAYAM platform. She has served regularly as a resource person at UGC Human Resource Development Centre AMU, Aligarh. Dr. Ahmed's scholarly impact extends to supervising M.Ed. dissertations, doctoral theses, and publishing prolifically. Moreover, she has delivered over more than 30 lectures as a resource person in UGC HRDC refresher programs, workshops, and short-term courses. As an academic counsellor at IGNOU's Regional Centre in Aligarh since 2020, she continues to contribute to educational guidance. She has special interest in Philosophical and Sociological issues in Education particularly feminist perception of educational philosophy. She has been teaching and writing in gender issues and women education from sociological lens.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: 25 October 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup. It will have the logos of INI and AMU.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- INI Team