Presented By:-

Harjinder Kumar
TOLSTOY FARM
By M.K. Gandhi
M.K.GANDHI
This extract from Gandhiji’s autobiography
describes Gandhiji’s role as a teacher that he
took upon himself at the Tolstoy Farm in South
Africa. He managed and guided the literary,
vocational and spiritual training and other
activities of his students at the farm.
 CONTEXT

 These children were from different social,

cultural and religious backgrounds. So,
Gandhiji decided to give the first place to
character building. The value of both physical
education and literary training were never
undermined. Gardening was a compulsory
subject. Shoe-making, carpentry and cooking
were taught to all as a part of vocational
training by Mr. Kallenbach and Sjt. Pragji
Desai respectively
 CONTEXT

 The students did not like the strictness

but they never resisted it. There was
hardly any illness in the Farm. In addition
to the exercise, good air, fresh water, and
food were responsible for this.
 CONTEXT
 Literary training was difficult due to lack of
resources and physical work tired them. Domestic
duties took most of the morning hours. In the three
periods given to academics elementary history,
geography and arithmetic were taught other than
languages. Gandhiji taught Tamil script and basic
grammar. He never tried to hide his ignorance but
never lost the love and respect of his students. He
believed that teachers were the true textbooks as
he felt that children learnt more through listening
than by seeing.
 CONTEXT

 The spiritual training was the most

difficult to impart. Gandhiji did not rely on
religious books. He wanted then to be
familiar with the basics of their own
religion. Thus the training was a purely
personal experience .
 CONTEXT
 Gandhiji wanted teachers to be role models.
They needed to practice first what they
preached. The teacher’s character had a
direct bearing on the students’ moral
education. Only once did Gandhiji slap a
quarrelsome boy of 17 who was given to
lying and refused to listen to reason. The
boy begged for forgiveness not because he
was in pain but because he realized the pain
he had caused to Gandhiji. Gandhiji
regretted his recourse to corporal
punishment and never resorted to it again .
 SUMMARY
Gandhiji set up the Tolstoy Farm about 21 miles
from Johannesburg. The children there belonged
to different communities and religions. No
qualified Indian teacher was willing to come that
far for the small salary that Gandhiji could offer
due to lack of funds. So, Gandhiji took on the
role of a father at the farm and took it on as his
responsibility to impart education to his children
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 BY USING 10+2 ENGLISH BOOK

 BY USING INTERNET
 (COMPUTER TEACHER)

G.S.S.SCHOOL, MAJITHA.