India had witnessed a sociocultural resurgence in 19 and 20 century. Socio-religious reformers, nationalists, litterateur and others had enriched this resurgence. Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi were front runners amongst them. The present work attempts to study their educational thought in a historical perspective and to enrich our present understanding of the crisis in education. The contemporary India thinks that India should evolve a system of education, which retains the essential cultural fabric of eternal India, and yet equip Indians to take their rightful place in the world of science and technology. Indians are concerned with character building, retaining moral standards and focus on spiritual goals. All this necessitates a study of great educational ideals. The work is a step in this direction. The background material offered in the book includes growth of education under British rule and an introduction on the imperialist point of view. The background also traces growth of nationalist educational thought before Vivekananda. The main work is spread over three chapters on Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Gandhi. A near common format has been adopted. The introductory component on each try to provide a brief life-sketch and mental makeup to facilitate a better understanding. This is followed with an analysis of their general philosophical outlooks as education for all of them were a part of their general philosophical outlook. The third component is devoted to their educational theory and practices. A brief conclusion on each has also been provided. Besides analysing the contribution of each, attempts have been made to compare their thinking, trace the synthetic growth of educational ideology and examine the contemporary relevance of their thinking.
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