Issue 13 - January 2009

We have heard people say, that without ambition, we cannot do anything.

The thirteenth issue of the Journal is in your hands.

To give knowledge which does not become an end in itself and to educate the mind to have a long vision, a wide comprehension of life, is not possible if education is based on authority.

Exulting in an unexpected shower in the summer, running off to float paper boats in puddles after the rains, looking for delicious berries at a particular time of the year, watching little insects, picking wild flowers to make bouquets, finding shining smooth pebbles or shells, feeling the soft sand and the rushing water on the beach, climbing a giant tree, running up and down a hillside—the list can go on.

The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind Emily DickinsonEarly in my Literature course with students newly come into Class 11, I have given them these lines of poetry to consider: The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough.

It is quite astonishing that adults know so little of the world around them.

As an English teacher I have found great joy in the exploration of meaningful writing with junior and middle school children.

The purpose, the aim and drive of these schools is to equip the child with the most excellent technological proficiency so that the student may function with clarity and efficiency in the modern world.

There are indeed many things that we consciously teach children, both at home and at school.

Poor effectiveness and quality plague our school system.

We have all had some great teachers. Or at least, if we have not been fortunate enough, we have heard of great teachers.

Some years ago, I attended a workshop conducted in Bangalore by teachers from the Royal College of Music, Stockholm.

Most often when I lead a dance class for the first time, the response I get from the boys is, ‘Yuuuuukkkkk dance! It’s for girls!’; and from the girls it is, ‘But when are we going to dance?’ By the end of the session all the children would have engaged with ideas, and used their bodies to express these in space.

Holistic education is a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to spiritual values such as compassion and peace.

Prefatory NoteSince the publication in July 2 2006 of the Journal of Krishnamurti Schools ‘dedicated to the teacher’, there has been an increasing, if varied, response to the necessary task of educating the educator.

An e-mail query in support of a Turkish Mathematics Village more than a year ago lead to a most illuminating, intellectually broadening and exciting experience at the annual Turkish Mathematics Summer School in the idyllic and sleepy but enchanting village of Sirince.

Envy is a curious emotion with a long and tragic history in human affairs.

The School, KFI, Chennai has created a new methodology that seeks to build a link between knowledge and empowerment, to equip each student with the ability to think, to apply and to discover.

The perception of beauty is an essential aspect of the teachings of J. Krishnamurti and has deep implications for education.