11. Life and Learning

Christmas or Diwali, an earthquake or tsunami, a birth or death in the family / community , an accident or a social problem are all fine learning points which children can observe and learn from…. Teachers can tap the inner responses of pupils to these in the classroom and deal in turn with their joy, sorrow , fear and anxieties … THEN & ONLY THEN does learning become part of LIFE !!!

10. The Spirit of Life Skills

The other day I had delivered a lecture on Life Skills to a group of newly recruited college teachers. I dealt with several life skills they require to succeed as a Lecturer!
But I wonder, how far I have succeeded in driving home something which I felt deeply about Life:

“ It is extremely difficult to wean our mind away from the attractions of wealth, material enjoyment, self esteem and fame. But by constant endeavour, determination and developing dispassion it becomes possible to discipline our mind to avoid the pitfalls of such lures. A contented man is internally poised and will be able to achieve great results….”

-Something I read in Bhavan’s Journal years ago

9. Views on Teacher Training

Justifying the need for restructuring the BEd. Curriculum in 2005, the Dean of the Faculty of Education of the University of Calicut observed: “Teacher entering the world of education needs to appreciate the complexities of teaching. Developing successfully as a teacher requires acknowledgement and appreciation of all the policies and issues in education in addition to the practical skills and personal direction…”

Around the same time Ahalya Chari in Wake Up India Oct-Dec 2005, wrote

“Teacher education is first and foremost a human activity, a religious commitment, meaning by ‘religion’ not a dogma but a sensitivity to life, to its interconnectedness and to the sacred. We need hearts and not heads in our schools today.”

Any comments???