BAHÁ’Í IDEALS OF EDUCATION
BY STANWOOD COBB
1.
EXPRESSION is the keynote of modern education. To the former aim of pedagogy —the acquisition of knowledge—is now added a further goal: the ability and the enthusiasm to use the knowledge acquired in the way of expression and achievement. Release the creative energies of the child this is the slogan of the progressive educator. It is the nature of that Self which is within us to be constantly seeking to express itself in terms of activity and achievement, and this self-expression becomes the means of growth and expansion. Marvelous results are being obtained with children educated in this new way. Their earnestness, their enthusiasm, their love of study and of school —these things are most noticeable. As they work under such inspiration their whole beings seem to expand and to blossom out.
Now to this evolutionary tendency in education the Bahá’í Movement brings a unique contribution in its teachings of the power of that Divine Creative Force, of which the Cosmos is but the manifestation, to energize and inspire the individual. So that in addition to the force of natural and human environment stimulating the child from without, we have the concept of a great Creative Force stimulating and nourishing the child’s soul from within.
What a marvelous means of intellectual growth to childhood and to youth, that a student should be able to appeal to God and in actual prayer petition for greater powers of comprehension, and of acquisition of knowledge. Bahá’í youths know where to turn for Divine aid in this so serious responsibility of a young life—the development of the intelligence and the acquirement of the arts and sciences.
For another and very important reason the stimulating and directive force of the Spirit is needed in the development of the child and of youth. We believe in self-expression for the child, but what is the nature of this self that is to be expressed? Bahá’ís realize in man two selves struggling within us—that which Paul called the carnal man which is prone to express itself in selfishness, in egotism and in sensuality; and the spiritual self, which is striving to acquire noble attributes and to grow into greater and greater perfection. But without aid from the Divine Source the spiritual self has not a chance. Our physical environment adding to the forces of our physical propensities, give too much power to man’s lower self for the spiritual to be able to attain victory unless it receives the assistance of the Holy Spirit. This assistance fortunately is immediately at hand; for the Holy Spirit, like those mysterious cosmic rays discovered by Milliken, penetrates all existence.
It is part of the educational training of every Bahá’í youth to make use of the utterances and prayers of Bahá’u’lláh in order to aid his spiritual growth. Intellectual perfection is not enough. Spiritual perfection is also earnestly sought by Bahá’í youth everywhere, of whatever race or creed.
When I had the privilege of an interview with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris at a time when I was connected with a traveling school for boys, He inquired about the program of the school. After I had told Him the different subjects I was teaching, He looked at me with His deeply quizzical smile and said, “Do you teach the spiritual things?” I had to inform Him that there was no time or place in the curriculum for these things. I have realized ever since, however, that education in subordinating the spiritual development to the intellectual development is “putting the cart before the horse.” The spiritual should come first, and is indeed made preeminent in the life of youth in all Bahá’í schools.
There is no question in my mind but
that[Page 471]
under
such an educational arrangement not
only does the character of youth become
superior, but capacity for knowledge is
enlarged and improved as a result of spiritual
growth. This is because the Spirit is causal
—back of all existence; back even of
intelligence, of which it is the Creator. When
this unique Force is drawn upon for development,
an increase is felt in every phase
of our existence—an added power, an added
grip on life. That such is the case
educationally is quite manifest in the radiant
faces, the earnest bearing, and the high
intelligence of Bahá’í youth in the various
schools and colleges of the world. They
appear to be outstanding students.
Just as the individual needs to express the higher nature within him, so humanity as a whole is in dire need of this type of expression. When it expresses its egoistic self we see clearly what happens. All the warfare, all the political and economic upheaval of the present epoch, are traceable directly to the fact that humanity in the mass as well as in the individual is expressing its lower self and not its higher self.
Let us conceive what would be the condition of a society composed of individuals trained in youth under a spiritual type of education which we have been describing. Such a society would express the higher self within it, and its institutions would be marvelous indeed. Bahá’í youths know this to be true. It is indeed this vision of a perfected humanity that inspires their enthusiasm and their effort for study, in order that they may attain to the utmost capacity for helping to achieve the divine civilization blazoned to the world by Bahá’u’lláh.
2.
Bahá’í youth do not loaf and malinger at their study as do so many of the students of today in our high schools and colleges. This is because they realize the duty as well as the privilege of acquiring knowledge. Bahá’u’lláh says:
“Knowledge is like unto wings for the being (of man) and is like a ladder for ascending. To acquire knowledge is incumbent upon all, but of those sciences which may profit the people of the earth, and not such sciences as begin in mere words and end in mere words. The possessors of sciences and arts have a great right among the people of the world. Indeed, the real treasury of man is his knowledge. Knowledge is the means of honor, prosperity, joy, gladness, happiness and exultation.”
Universal education was one of the chief principles laid down by Bahá’u’lláh for the new humanity, and wherever we find communities in which Baha’is predominate, we find Bahá’í schools. In Persia the Bahá’í schools are the only ones in many villages, certainly the only schools for girls. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “Education holds an important place in the new order of things. The education of each child is compulsory. . . . The mothers are the first educators of mankind; if they be imperfect, alas for the condition and future of the race. Therefore the mothers must be capably trained in order to educate both sons and daughters. . . . All the children must be educated so that there will not remain one single individual without an education. In cases of inability on the part of the parents through sickness, death, etc., the state must educate the child.”
Therefore it becomes the spiritual duty of every Bahá’í parent to see that his children acquire the utmost possible amount of education, and great sacrifices are made in order to carry out this injunction. As regards the children, they realize the importance of education both because of the earnest attitude on the part of their parents in this direction, and because of the direct precepts of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regarding the necessity of acquiring knowledge.
To the Bahá’í youth who visit Shoghi
Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause, he
urges the study of economics, history and
sociology in order that they may be
prepared intelligently to interpret to the world
of today the great principles of Bahá’u’lláh.
The social sciences thus receive earnest
study by Bahá’í youth, not only in connection
with their school work, but also in
voluntary research outside of school life.
In[Page 472]
different
cities Bahá’í youth associate together
in classes for the study and discussion
of political, social and economic problems,
and of the solution to these problems as
presented by the Bahá’í Movement.
3.
The curriculum in the world of Bahá’í education will be somewhat modified inevitably from that which exists in present educational systems. In fact one can hardly refer to an existing curriculum for the reason that there is today no standard curriculum. Colleges and universities are in a quandary as to what should constitute education for the youth of today. Each university is trying out its own ideas. There has not yet arrived any consensus of opinion as to any requisite minimum of knowledge that should be the attainment of every student. Charles W. Eliot gave a blow to the old standard classics from which it has never recovered and from which it undoubtedly never will recover. But as yet no great constructive intelligence has arisen to build up a standard curriculum for the new age.
The conviction that such a curriculum is necessary seems to be growing in the minds of many educators. In time the whole world will inevitably arrive at a universal curriculum. Bahá’u’lláh speaks of this as part of the Divine Plan for humanity. But what will be the nature of this curriculum? Bahá’u’lláh has given us the clue. Teach not those subjects which begin in words and end in words, but rather those things which pertain to human welfare. Following such a guidance one can think of many subjects which would be discarded and of other subjects which should be included in a minimum curriculum.
The dead languages, it is apparent, begin in words and end in words. Any content value in them which pertains to human welfare could be derived from their translations. The dead languages are already on the wane educationally. They have no future that is apparent even from a worldly viewpoint. But what about the living languages and their usefulness in travel and international procedure? The citizens of the small countries of Europe are obliged to know fluently three or four languages in addition to their own. Most of the students at Roberts College where I once taught, had to master five languages before they graduated. Indeed many of the clerks in the Constantinople stores were able to manage seven languages fluently. An immense amount of time and labor has to be given by the youth of today to acquiring modern languages for the purpose of facility in the international life of today.
But the Bahá’í Movement has the remedy for this situation in the universal auxiliary language which shall be studied by all the students throughout the world in addition to their own native language. Either this auxiliary language may be an existing language, or a manufactured language like Esperanto. The nations of the world are to confer and settle upon such a language and thereafter prescribe it for their educational systems—a very simple matter to settle, once the consciousness of humanity is aroused and turned in this direction.
Eliminating from our ideal curriculum, then, the burden of languages ancient and modern, and advanced work in mathematics which plainly is no advantage to the average student in his later life, we may by a process of elimination arrive at the conclusion that after proficiency is gained in one’s native language and in the new universal language, the subjects for study should be those pertaining to a knowledge of the universe in which we live. One might describe such a course as this by the term “universe-knowledge.” The importance of such knowledge is incontrovertible. We find ourselves thrown into the midst of a magnificent, mysterious and sometimes terrifying universe. This is the theatre of our existence. It behooves us to understand its nature and its laws, and to know how to apply these laws both to our corporate and, our individual lives upon this planet.
Thus we need to know the origin and the
nature of the stars; their life as suns,
radiating heat, light and life itself to the
satellites about them. We need to know the
nature of the earth we live in,—its origin,
its composition, its nature both physical
and[Page 473]
chemical,
and its evolution to the point
where it was capable of sustaining life. We
need to know the nature and composition of
life itself, and its evolution from the
molecule to man.
When we have reached the point of seeing man emerge upon the theatre of life, then begins the study of man both as an individual and as a social animal. We need to study deeply his political, his social and his economic development, in order to understand his needs and tendencies in these directions.
We need to teach these subjects in abbreviated form, using the laboratory only to demonstrate the concrete ways in which knowledge is attained. We must, in order to make such a curriculum successful, humanize the sciences and organize them in a new way. We must perceive the essential unity of knowledge. Bahá’u’lláh said that knowledge is one point but scholars have multiplied it. We cannot give all details of the sciences. In fact, we should not. (Today in the teaching of sciences a student sees not the woods because the trees are in the way.) What we need is a broad sweeping view of these subjects for the purpose of enlarging our horizon and giving us foundations upon which to build in every direction later in life. For education only begins in the college and university. Its real fruition is certainly not attained in youth. Therefore it is very important that youth acquire broad and inspiring foundations in the scholastic period, in order that it may go on through life enthusiastically acquiring knowledge in every line from the marvelous cultural environment which surrounds the modern citizen of a civilized country.
I cannot say that such is to be the Bahá’í curriculum, the universal curriculum of the future. This is only my suggestion in that direction. But clearly such a curriculum, when chosen, will be one that pertains closely to the needs of humanity and one which can be perennially reformulated in consistence with the advancement and progress of humanity.
4.
Bahá’í youths undertake education not only as a means to development and to assertive and individual success, but as a means of attaining to greater capacity for universal service. They long, because of their religion, to become better citizens of city, country and the world. They are deeply imbued with the ideal of world peace, of universal brotherhood, of abolition of prejudices. They have world vision—whether they live in Boston, Washington, London, Paris, Germany, China, Japan, Ṭihrán; or in the humble villages of the Persian plains or Burmese jungles.
Bahá’í youths, thus trained, are superior in their vision to the average adult of the secular world. Their whole lives are keyed to high ideals both of individual attainment and of universal service. They do not fritter away and waste their energies. They work as a spiritual duty; for idleness, they are taught, is a sin. They are given a great commandment: “Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship.” Therefore when they toil at their studies for the sake of the future humanity as well as for the sake of their own intellectual and spiritual development, they realize that they are performing a spiritual function. I presume this is what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá meant when He said to me, “Are you teaching the spiritual realities?”
It can easily be seen what a great motivating and directive force for the attainment of a new world civilization this body of Bahá’í youth will be when they reach the platform of world activity. Some are already emerging from the universities and beginning their actual life as citizens of their country and of the world. The brilliancy and cogency of their intellectual life is equalled only by the purity of their spiritual nature. We may look for great things from these youths. They will be the greatest proof and the greatest testimony as to what education should be, and what it should do for the youth of the world.
