Education must be of three kinds: Material, Human or Social, and Spiritual or Divine Material Education is concerned with the progress and development of the body, through gaining its sustenance, material comfort and ease. This has been the primary focus of education till now.
Human or Social Education signifies civilization and progress – that is to say, family, government, administration, charitable works, trades, arts and handicrafts, sciences, great inventions and discoveries and elaborate institutions. Spiritual or Divine Education consists in acquiring virtues and perfections of God.
Four Building Blocks of Education
- Universal Values (Spirit – To Be) Values
- Global Understanding (Heart – To Love) Attitudes
- Excellence In All Things (Mind – To Know) Knowledge
- Service To Humanity (Body – To Do) Skills
Universal Values (Spirit – To Be) Values
UNIVERSAL VALUES ARE THE SPIRITUAL QUALITIES, VIRTUES AND VALUES THAT WE NURTURE IN OUR CHILDREN.
Our Report Card?- Are we doing an adequate job of instilling the attitudes, values and habits of life so needed today? Are our morning assemblies, and all the rest that we do to nurture values, enough of an antidote against moral decline in our society? Could we do more to make values not only integral but also real, and making individuals 'good' as equally important If not more important than making them 'smart'?
Global Understanding (Heart – To Love) Attitudes
GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING IS ABOUT CREATING A LOVE FOR OTHER HUMAN BEINGS AND ALL THINGS LIVING, HELPING CHILDREN RECOGNIZE THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE AND TAKING THEM BEYOND THE NARROW CONFINES OF CASTE, RELIGION, COUNTRY AND COLOUR.
Our Report Card?- Are we instilling in our children a love for existence, the preciousness of life, and the fundamental recognition that we are part of one, single human race, part of one global ethos? Do we help our children examine the deeper aspects of life, watch the night sky, hear the birds, smell the flowers, learn about the diversity and beauty of world cultures and languages, and appreciate the wonder and beauty of the universe?
Excellence In All Things (Mind – To Know) Knowledge
EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS IS TEACHING CHILDREN TO DO THEIR BEST ALWAYS AND STRIVE FOR PERFECTION AND BEAUTY, RECOGNISE THE POTENTIAL OF EVERY CHILD TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL MEMBER OF A FAMILY, SOCIETY AND THE WORLD, AND NURTURE EVERY CHILD'S POTENTIAL TO BECOME THE BEST S/HE CAN POSSIBLY BE.
Our Report Card?- Do we in fact bring out the best in every child, or could we do more to nurture excellence in all things? How can we reorganise learning so as to inspire in every child an intrinsic desire to do one's best always, and to appreciate beauty and perfection in all one does? Can we nurture our children's potential to go beyond the narrow confines of exam success, to teach them the qualities of excellence in both human and material forms?
Service To Humanity (Body – To Do) Skills
SERVICE TO HUMANITY GOES BEYOND TEACHING CHILDREN THE CONCEPT OF CHARITY TO RECOGNISING SERVICE AS A WAY OF LIFE, INSTILLED DURING THE PROCESS OF EDUCATION ITSELF, SO THAT WHEN THEY GROW UP, YOUNG ADULTS WILL GO BEYOND NARROW CONCEPTS OF SUCCESS BASED ON MATERIAL GAIN TO BECOME CONSCIOUS THINKERS AND DOERS, LEADERS OF THOUGHT AND ACTION AND PROACTIVE AGENTS OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.
Our Report Card?- Do we endorse and develop through our educational process a child's natural empathy, and do we nurture in them a desire to contribute and serve as they move from adolescence into a life of service?
Four Pillars of Education
Knowledge
Knowledge is not the mere accumulation of information. To know, one needs to go beyond information to discover the facts and truths of each situation, independently and without bias investigate the truth behind all things – only then it becomes knowledge and a person "knowledgeable". Information can be provided in a classroom or outside but it only becomes knowledge after a person has found the truth of that information for himself or herself through experience. "Knowledge is as wings to man’s life and a ladder for his ascent."
Wisdom
Knowledge leads to understanding, understanding to wisdom. There is no short cut to this process. Wisdom comes not from mere intellectual understanding of facts but through direct experience of applying one’s principles into action. In essence, it is the ability to make the right decision and to be able to evaluate what leads to human nobility or baseness. Wisdom too cannot be taught within a class but must be acquired through active applications of one’s knowledge and principles to making choices and decisions.
Spiritual Perception
Spiritual perception is the acquired, and not simply God given ability to make choices in view of what is moral or spiritual, what aids our spiritual nature and what does not. What takes a man from abaseness into glory, from attachment to detachment, from material to divine. Spiritual perception is also the ability to make the right choices based on moral perceptions or on God’s teachings for man. Spiritual perception too cannot be taught in the classroom. It is developed over time by exemplary living. These in turn develop deeper insights in the inmost core of our beings. It is the guiding light that some may call conscience or insight, but one that is rational and not simply based on our contexts and past circumstances.
Exemplary Living or Eloquent Speech
When one becomes the very embodiment of the principles for which one stands and exemplies them in his or her day to day living, one whole being speaks to who he or she is. Eloquent speech is not the mere verbal expression of who we are but the very essence of who we are as people. It makes live the statement: "let your deeds speak louder than your words."
"Moral values are not the only constructive elements of social processes, rather, they are the expressions of the inner forces that operate in the spiritual reality of every human being, and education must concern itself with these forces, if it is to tap the roots of motivation and produce meaningful and lasting change."
What Values? Whose Values?
- Universal Values are beliefs that are accompanied by actions that uplift or benefit humanity.
- SNS does not prescribe specific values though we believe that there are universal values we can all agree upon. Many of these are common to all school communities, and consistent with values held by other countries and cultures. Each school community can come up with its own set of universal values such as: Sharing, Honesty, Friendliness, Co-operation, Truthfulness, Compassion, Helpfulness, Courage, Responsibility.
- In the SNS curriculum, we have indicated those virtues and values that we have identified as most relevant to the majority of contexts but a teacher, in consultation with the school members and the community, may discuss other virtues and values to adopt in addition to the suggested ones.
- The diagram below represents the content of education of a fully literate person in the 3rd millennium as defined by SNS. This framework has been adopted from the Council for Global Education’s Framework for Education as the following page describes.
SNS – The Content of Education
UNIVERSAL VALUES SPIRIT (to be)Values and character to lead a virtuous
life
EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS MIND (to know)Knowledge and ability to
do the best relative to one self
GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING HEART (to love) Attitudes of universal brotherhood
and reverence for life
SERVICE TO HUMANITY BODY (to do) Skills to serve humanity and contribute
in one’s unique ways to the betterment of the world
Council for Global Education’s Four Building Blocks of Education
Universal Values (Virtues) SPIRIT– To BE
Values put meaning into action. A values education is the foundation for every child’s
development. Without it, the process of education becomes meaningless. Without meaning,
children lose interest and ultimately the results of education are ineffective for
both the individual and society.
CGE promotes:
- Example by teachers and parents
- School mottoes and ideals
- Parent education programs
- Teacher training programs
- Daily reflection
- Study of and visit to holy places of worship of different religions
- Curriculum that integrates universal values and character development
- The teacher as a role-model for "excellence in all things."
Excellence in All Things (Knowledge) MIND– To KNOW
Academic excellence is a consequence of a values focused education. Excellence itself
is a value. A child who accepts excellence as a life guiding principle will be able
to better develop his or her full potential. Extraordinary achievement can become
the norm.
CGE promotes:
- Participatory processes in learning
- Innovation research centers (in education)
- Focus on striving for understanding
- Learning "why" and not just "how" or "what"
- Quality circles in academics
- Teacher-student-parent cooperation
- Guardian-teachers (as liaison to parents)
- Motivational schemes that focus on both accomplishment and effort, viewing excellence
in its multiple dimensions.
Global Understanding (Attitudes) HEART– To LOVE
Children must learn to view national and cultural diversity as an asset and reverence
for all forms of life. Love and respect for others, proper communication skills,
and true understanding form the basis of global understanding. CGE promotes the
recognition of the "oneness of humanity" as the ultimate goal or principle of this
understanding, leading to unity and peace in the world. Learning about cultures
and traditions cannot by itself provide a basis for unity and children must to taught
to love other fellow human beings and revere life whether or not they know about
them or like them.
CGE promotes:
- Emphasizing diversity as an asset
- Developing early exposure to and love for world’s cultures, religions and traditions
- Early exposure to and love for diverse languages
- School-to-school exchanges
- International joint service projects
- Commitment to and equal emphasis on the education of both sexes
- Activities for building world peace
- World-wide student exchanges & international camps
- Promoting cooperative games, consultation and collaboration between a diverse student
body
Service to Humanity (Skills) BODY– To DO
Children must be inspired to contribute to the betterment of the world. By taking
care of the environment or the needy, for example, children gain additional understanding,
confidence and motivation that a classroom setting alone cannot provide. life
CGE promotes:
- Exposing children to nature — to learn to cherish it
- Exposing children to service opportunities
- Promoting nature camps and international environmental awareness programs
- Getting children involved in projects on "sustainable development"
- Getting parents, students and teachers to do service projects together
- Practice of participatory principles & consultation with those they serve
- Helping children become leaders in service to humanity
"Awareness of the necessity to free people from religious bigotry and fanaticism gives rise to a non-sectarian yet spiritual approach to moral education."