Why shouldn’t education be given in the three Domains ?

Dr Chakpram Hemanta Singh
It is our responsibility to impart quality education to all children in order to bring about all round development of children in this 21st Century. It is the duty and responsibility of the departments concerned like Directorate of Education, Board of Secondary Education Manipur to prepare the curriculum and syllabus, the teachers who are teaching in schools to impart quality education.  As we are aware, education is all round development. It is not only imparting Cognitive development but also Affective and psycho-motor. However, we see that education is imparted only based on Cognitive domain in most of the schools in Manipur. It is very unfortunate. Truly speaking, Education should be imparted based on the three Domains ie Cognitive, Affective and Psycho-motor. If Education is imparted in the entire three Domains, it will be for the betterment of the society and the Nation.
In this regard, let’s discuss the three Domains which are the most relevant in educational and human development contexts.
1. Cognitive Domain : This domain involves intellectual skills and the acquisition of knowledge and understanding. Scientist, Educator, Management consultant, Machine Learning Engineer, Researcher, Lawyer, Doctor, writer, Journalist, etc are those persons who obtained Cogni- tive Domain of learning. In short, the kind of education which produces doctor, philosopher, engineer, scientist etc. are under the category of Cognitive Education.
2. Affective Domain : It deals with emotions, attitudes, appreciation, motiva- tion, empathy, character development and values. It's about how individuals deal with things emotionally. Mahatama Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mala Yousafzai, Fred Rogers, Dalai Lama, Dr Martin Luther King Junior, Mother Teresa, Jane Goodall etc. are those person who obtained Affective Domain of learning .
3. Psycho-motor Domain :  It relates to physical movement, coordination, and motor-skill use. Example Activities : Arts, crafts, martial arts, playing piano, music, dancing, sports etc. Bruce Lee – Martial Artist & Actor, Usain Bolt -Olympic Sprinter, known as the fastest man in the world. Michael Jordan - Basketball Legend, Sachin Tendulkar –Cricketer, Mikhail Barysh- nikov–Ballet Dancer, Si-mone Biles–Gymnast, Yo- Yo Ma – Cellist, Tony Hawk-Skateboarding Pioneer, Serena Williams – Tennis Champion, Pelé– Football Legend.
If education is imparted based in these three domains, it will be good not only the pupils but also to the society and Nation. However, there are few schools where these domains are imparted to all children whether it be Government school or private schools. It is our responsibility as a teacher or as a parent to provide education according to the choice of the students. In this connection, neither the department concerned nor the schools organize to provide such opportunities to the children.
Only cognitive domain is imparted in almost all the schools of Manipur. The Board of Secondary Education Manipur introduced Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation emphasising  only the Cognitive Domain (Scholastic Area) neglecting Affective and Psycho-motor (Co-Scholastic Area). This is quite in contrast to the meaning of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). This CCE covers all the three domains not only for assessing the academic achievement but also co-scholastic area. Children should be given career and guidance assistance right from the high school stage so that they may become responsible citizens of our country.
If students are given basic knowledge of sports, dance and music, painting, crafts, since their childhood stage, they can choose their right streams after passing XII examination. They can go in for either professional course or academic course. This should be arranged by the school authorities. Mention may be that a student can offer Music, Dance, Thang-ta, fine arts as an optional subject as prescribed by the Board of Secondary Education Manipur and Council of Hr. Secondary Education Manipur. This is a good idea. However, such subjects are not opened in most of the schools of Manipur. It should be opened for the all-round development of students.
In this regard, school authorities must pay serious attention to provide the three domains. Here we can see various recommendations and policy of Indian Education system. Some of recommendations are highlighted.
1. The Education Commission of 1964-66, also known as the Kothari Commission, is the key body that recommended providing education in all three domains — cognitive (Intellectual development, know- ledge and mental skills)
2. Affective, (Attitudes, values, and feelings and emotional development) and
3. Psycho motor(Physical and motor skills and skills-based learning). This approach aligns with Bloom's Taxonomy, which categorizes learning into these three domains. The commission also mentions, “The destiny of India is now being shaped in her classrooms… But it is not just intellectual training that we need; we must promote values, skills, and attitudes alongside knowledge.”
The NEP 2020 explicitly mentions that assessment/reporting of students should include progress and uniqueness of each learner across all three learning domains—cognitive, affective, and psychomotor.
Here are a few key points from the policy about these domains :
1. Holistic Progress Card (Para 4.35 of NEP 2020) : “The progress card of all students for school-based assessment, which is communicated by schools to parents, will be completely redesigned … It will be a holistic, 360-degree, multidimensional report that reflects in great detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. It will include self-assessment and peer assessment, and progress of the child in project-based and inquiry-based learning, quizzes, role plays, group work, portfolios, etc., along with teacher assessment.”
2. Foundational/Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) : In the ECCE section (ages 3-8), NEP 2020 states that the aim is to achieve optimal outcomes in several domains including physical and motor development, cognitive development, socio-emotional-ethical development and cultural/artistic development. The present Educa- tion system is based on liberal aim of education. Liberal aim of education is cognitive education aim. No doubt, the present system of education is entirely based on cognitive. Although there has been the recognition of affective and psy- chomotor value in the integrated personality develop- ment of an individual, knowledge aim is still in the flesh and blood of the present system of education in spite of mentioned in the various commission and committee and policy. If education is given only the cognitive domain, it leads to disequilibrium personality development.
It may be mentioned that Cognitive, affective and psychomotor aims are equally important in the development of personality of a student. When there happens to be unequal develop- ment in the three domains of behaviour, then the personality of the individual would naturally be an imbalanced one. But, in the liberal aim of education, great emphasis has been given to the cognitive development only at the cost of affective and psychomotor domain, thereby resul- ting in innumerable affective and psychomotor beha- viour problems among individuals. This may be said to be a serious drawback of giving education only based on cognitive domain.
In fine, it is high time to provide education based on the three domains with a view to bringing about a developed nation. Here, the authorities concerned, tea-chers, parents must pay serious attention in this regard.
References:
Kothari Commission, Education and National Development, Report of the Educational Commission, 1964-66, New Delhi: NCERT 1970, Vol.1.
National Education Policy (2020) Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India.
Indira Huidrom (2016)  Educationthe Principles of Education. Job Bank Paona Bazar, Imphal