Download (PDF, 533KB) - School of Educators

More documents

Recommendations

Info

TEACHER: No, he can’t. He is responsible to parents, to the public, to the communityat large.And also to the teacher and pupils in the school. You see, freedom calls for the highestresponsibility. That is so in the government also. The legislators are responsible to thepeople who elected them and so too the Prime Minister and his cabinet.PUPIL: In a dictatorship there is no freedom, is there? TEACHER: No, because in adictatorship only one man’s judgement counts and everybody else is afraid of him. Haveyou not heard it said that where there is fear there can be no freedom?PUPIL: But in democracies also we see fear sometimes. TEACHER: Can you giveexamples?PUPIL: The businessman is afraid of the laws; the poor man is afraid of the rich man;managements are afraid of strikes.TEACHER: But in a democracy, people can talk about this, write about this, is it not?PUPIL; Yes, newspapers publish all the wrong that is going on and so people have tobe watchful.TEACHER: Yes, indeed, in a democracy the Press is a very important avenue forpeople’s freedom.PUPIL: But yet the people continue to be afraid.TEACHER: Tell me, are you afraid? PUPIL; Yes, we are afraid sometimes.TEACHER: Can you learn if you are afraid?PUPIL: No, I am too agitated to learn.TEACHER: Then what will you do? What do you do?PUPIL: I give up learning and do something else that eases the mind.TEACHER: But that is not intelligent. Isn’t it better to find out why you were afraid,of what you are afraid and try to understand your fears so that after dealing with themyour mind may be free to learn?PUPIL: What do you mean by ‘dealing with them’? The cause may not be in ourhands.TEACHER: Yes, that is so, but by going on thinking about your fears and anxietiesare you helping yourself?It was on these lines their dialogue continued that day. Perhaps you can go into thesequestions, too.You see, man is full of curiosity and wonder. He has investigated and tried to find outeverything about nature. He has patiently observed and studied the ways of birds andanimals. He has probed into space and tried to understand all about stars and planets andthe universe. He has delved into the ocean and gathered a lot of knowledge about oystersand pearls, about whales and seals and dolphins and the whole of the under-ocean world.He has studied the story of man and the civilisations that existed. He has discoveredcaves and rocks and fossils that help him understand that story. He has madeextraordinary discoveries in medicine and surgery. That is, he has shown a great deal of
curiosity and wonder about the world outside him and has gathered enormous knowledgeabout that world.The teacher in this class is asking the children to delve into the world inside them, intotheir minds and hearts and to observe what helps them learn and what does not. She isasking them to watch and learn about the blocks to freedom, their fears and anxieties,Their interest and attention and so on.Would you agree that this study of ourselves is as important as the other about theoutside world?Would you like to have some dialogues about these things in your own class or athome?Think upon these things.34. Ravi’s Quest for the Meaning of ReligionRavi was a sensitive boy of fourteen. From the time he was eight or nine he had thatdeep feeling for something unnameable, for something beyond all description and thisfeeling had persisted. When watching the sun rise, when walking alone, when listening togreat music, when tending a plant, there would be a strong urge welling up in him to findout for himself who God was, where he lived, if anyone had seen him, and so on. Henoticed how the rose fades away by the evening, how plants wither away, how all life,whether animal or man. comes to an end. He liked to be alone by himself when notstudying in class. His mother was a devout Hindu and would regularly offer prayers at thetemple near by. Ravi would accompany her sometimes of an evening and he liked theatmosphere surrounding the worship of a beautiful image. The lights, the incense, thesheer beauty of an arti austerely performed, those moved him inwardly- Could God be inthat image, he wondered? And yet, if God is all powerful why should he reside only instone images? Is God a person at all like man? These questions nagged him often.His sister had married a Christian in a church. That day Ravi was deeply moved by thewonderful decorum and order there, the hymns that were sung and the simple ceremonythat followed. The architectural beauty of the cathedral, the huge domes, lights, candleshad made him feel different. Did God reside here alone, he wondered? Why do they callhim the Saviour? That evening he read parts of the Bible before going to sleep.There was a mosque near by and often from the terrace at noon he saw-large numbersof men kneel and bend in prayer and the profound depth and volume of their prayerstruck a chord in his heart. Did Islam have the answer to his question, he wondered. Hisbest friend was a Muslim boy, Kasim, and he found out from his father that the word‘Islam’ meant ‘peace’. The Muslims believe that all men are brothers and should live inpeace and friendship.At school he had read in his history class the extraordinary story of Prince Siddharthaand of how he gave up the comforts and wealth of a king’s life, gave up even his wife andchild and went forth alone into the forest to seek that truth that liberates all mankind, andhe came to be known as Gautama the Buddha who gave his dhamma to the world. Thedhamma taught people the cause of human suffering and how to end the suffering. Ravihad a small image of the Buddha on his study table and was particularly impressed by the
Page 1 and 2:
THINKING TOGETHERAhalya ChariNATION
Page 3 and 4:
There is, therefore, a different ap
Page 5 and 6:
20. On Beauty21. When Trees Hold a
Page 7 and 8: dustbin, lifting a child that had f
Page 9 and 10: thoughtless and conceited and she w
Page 11 and 12: his hair combed back neatly. Anita
Page 13 and 14: that require the use of the hands.
Page 15 and 16: slightly bigger decision like ‘Sh
Page 18 and 19: I want to share with you one incide
Page 20 and 21: Yet another teacher said, “I don
Page 22 and 23: them but can one have fun even whil
Page 24 and 25: studies and they were angry that th
Page 26 and 27: The entire evening and all the item
Page 28 and 29: know best what your hurts are at th
Page 30 and 31: working with your hands there is no
Page 32 and 33: job. In fact, since his school days
Page 34 and 35: Bachhu lived in the hills of the no
Page 36 and 37: important for growing children. His
Page 38 and 39: through design books and his eyes n
Page 40 and 41: tamarind, cotton, kadam, cinnamon,
Page 42 and 43: vision of education. Children loved
Page 44 and 45: from which he draws his energy. In
Page 46 and 47: “What about you, Lalitha? Aren’
Page 48 and 49: you hear the whine of a dog hit by
Page 50 and 51: stuffed with the opinions and belie
Page 52 and 53: to make the work simpler. There wer
Page 54 and 55: Devinder’s can he such happy, pro
Page 56 and 57: means that if you are an Englishman
Page 60 and 61: serene face. He also learnt at scho
Page 62: not calculate and solve elaborate m
show all

Download (PDF, 533KB) - School of Educators

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?