ENGLISH 1 Iqbal’s Philosophy of Khudi

Maintenance and Development through Experiential Learning in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This study probes the relationship between Iqbal’s concept of khudi and experiential learning during early childhood. This qualitative and exploratory study employs Colaizzi’s method for content analysis to extract hermeneutical interpretations and exegetically decipher the allegorical connotations from Iqbal’s Persian anthology of poems, Asrar-i-Khudi. The thematic deduction draws Iqbal’s ideas of the development of khudi in an environment of experiential learning. Iqbal’s ideas have also been extracted from his other works. Historical and contemporary literature related to child learning psychology and education is also reviewed. The study concludes that the creative and curious mind of every child continuously develops hypotheses and tests them through experiences. The main aim of education is the realization of a strong ‘Khudi’ through experiential learning to create self-awareness, and self-realization to unleash an individual’s potentials. It is recommended that early childhood education in Pakistan ensures individuality development through experiential learning by applying Iqbal’s educational thoughts. It is also recommended that further research is undertaken to explore the functional aspects of Iqbal’s concept of experiential learning approach to bring the desired change in the early childhood education system.