Oral tradition in education: From gurukul to modern

The folk culture and tradition in Indian Society and civilization has prominently shown its presence since time immoral. The folk culture and tradition has always played an instrumental role in shaping Indian culture and society. Culture has been known as the vehicles of any civilization. The folklore, oral tradition, folk traditions have an important role in giving shape and direction to the culture of any given society. India has witnessed many changes in the usage and practice of the oral traditions in contemporary times. Education system with reference to Indian history and civilization has been strongly understood, linking it through the historical Gurukul system. This Gurukul system of education has also been reflected through the vedic literature which is being portrayed in the epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharat. This education system had a very broad domain engulfing the composition of herbal medicines and its application, emotional training, use and practices of indigenous knowledge apart from providing socioeconomic and political training. Hence, this paper tries to focus on the role of folk tradition, oral histories, folklore in understanding the Gurukul system of education in India and linking this system of education through the scientific and modern education in contemporary India. The secondary sources in the related literature have been used to trace the development of education from Gurukul system to modern scientific one.