AL-FARABI’S PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Abu Nasr Mohammad Al-Farabi was leading Muslim intellectual, philosopher, linguist, and educationist. He dealt with metaphysics keeping in view three basic concepts; God, the emanation and beings and the internal structure of beings. He always tried to understand the intellectual framework of the world and society. He wanted to restore unity in politics seeking guidance from Quran. According to AlFarabi, education is a process to create ideal society by nurturing and preparing individual towards attaining perfection and freedom on a broader canvas. For him, education is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and values for happier life. AlFarabi prescribes persuasive and instructional strategies for common people while for elites, he recommends demonstration method. Sound character, intellectual competence and demonstration skill are the basic components of effective teaching. There should be sequence in learning starting with the language, then logic, seven forms of mathematics, natural sciences, human sciences, jurisprudence and academic theology. The concept of evaluation means the measurement of learning outcomes. Different instruments may be used to test knowledge and intelligence. The capacity for deductive and critical thinking understands the relationship between parts of information and to arrive at the understanding of whole.