Collaborative Learning in Gurukul Education: A Constructivist Pedagogical Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the synthesis of collaborative learning within the traditional Gurukul education framework through a constructivist perspective. While the ancestral Gurukul paradigm faces contemporary pressures to adopt modern, interactive practices, this research investigates how constructivist frameworks can restructure legacy praxis to foster autonomous, peer-led knowledge production without compromising core cultural and institutional tenets for synergogical effect. Using a qualitative research approach, empirical data were collected through classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews with ten Gurus and thirty Shishyas. The findings demonstrate that integrating peer-led dialogues, cooperative projects, and structured reflection shifts learners from passive receivers to active critical thinkers. Fundamentally, this cognitive development reinforces the learners' cultural and spiritual alignment, proving that indigenous values and modern constructivist theories are mutually reinforcing. Finally, this study provides a sustainable, learner-centered paradigm for traditional institutions, facilitating holistic student growth aligned with Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the ideal of the world as one family.