UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Indoctrination involves imposing beliefs on learners without allowing critical scrutiny or alternative perspectives. It discourages questioning and demands conformity to a fixed doctrine. The stem describes a kind of teaching that does the opposite: it promotes critical thinking and questioning. Therefore,it is clearly opposed to indoctrination,making this the correct answer.

Option A:
Supervision refers to monitoring learners’ activities and ensuring order in the institution,not to suppressing or encouraging critical thought. It is not the conceptual opposite of questioning-based teaching.

Option B:
Orientation is an introductory process to familiarise learners with new environments or courses and does not imply forced belief or suppression of doubt. Hence,this option does not contrast with the stem.

Option C:
Indoctrination conflicts with democratic and reflective aims of education because it discourages autonomy and rational judgement,which the stem explicitly values.

Option D:
Administration concerns management of institutional affairs such as scheduling and budgeting,rather than controlling belief systems. It is not the conceptual opposite of critical teaching.

Teaching in democratic education systems is expected to foster critical thinking and open inquiry. Learners are invited to examine evidence, compare perspectives and form reasoned judgments. Indoctrination, in contrast, aims to impose beliefs in a way that discourages questioning. Thus the presence or absence of critical examination is a major point of difference between the two.

Option A:
This option actually describes indoctrination rather than teaching. When learners are forced to accept ideas without questioning, their critical faculties are suppressed. Such an approach goes against the goals of higher education and cannot be considered authentic teaching.

Option B:
This option correctly highlights that genuine teaching creates space for analysis and doubt. It respects learner autonomy and intellectual freedom. Indoctrination, by demanding blind acceptance, contradicts these values and restricts the development of independent thinkers. Therefore this distinction is widely accepted in educational theory.

Option C:
This option creates an artificial distinction between physical and mental training. Teaching frequently addresses both mental and sometimes physical skills depending on the discipline. Indoctrination is defined by its closed attitude to inquiry, not by the type of skill.

Option D:
This option incorrectly associates teaching with out-of-institution settings only. Teaching and indoctrination can take place in many contexts. The crucial difference is not where they occur but how they treat evidence, reasoning and questioning.