Issue 2 - July 1998

To understand anything, any human or scientific problem, what is important, what is essential?

We all know that visitors to our schools, professional or otherwise, go back with a feeling that here is an educational environment that is friendly, warm, inviting; that this is basically a happy community of teachers and students who go about their activities joyously and yet seriously.

It is strange, indeed, that even in the context, of the Krishnamurti schools, we hesitate to talk about (much less probe into), the very central question of consciousness.

At the outset these two words would to appear to have little in common.

'We teach what we know, but educate what we are'

What is the relationship, if any, between the teachings of Krishnamurti, and the findings of contemporary research in educational psychology?

Krishnamurti has emphasised the need for students and teachers to learn about themselves while they are teaching and learning about the world around them, through the planned curriculum and activities of the school.

Culture classes have become an integral part of the curriculum at most K schools, yet their scope and purpose remain obscure.

I vividly remember the first school trip in 1983 with a group of standard 9 students at The Valley School.

As I reflect upon my plunge into teaching in a school more than a decade ago, I really marvel at how fast time has flown.

Welcome to the 1997 Oak Grove School Graduation Ceremonies.

For seven very inspiring enriching years, I have had the opportunity of living and teaching at Rajghat, on the banks of the Ganga.

In the autumn of 1995 three families at BrockwoodPark School were discussing the possibility of providing some kindof alternative education for their children and started searching for a place where this could happen.

All too often in our staff meetings, we have deliberated upon our concerns - how to help our children understand that there is more to playing a game than winning or losing, with the accompanying euphoria or disappointment.

Two distinct, but equally crucial challenges coalesced to inspire the creation of the Valley school Art Village.

How would a teacher respond when asked, 'What do you teach when you teach science?'

In a modern Biology class a teacher no longer draws and labels a hypothetical flower on the blackboard expecting the children to learn it by heart.

We all agree that as educators our responsibility is not only to impart knowledge, but also to be concerned with the overall development of the child.

Teaching and learning of classification in Life Science can be very wearisome and dull if taught in the conventional way, using Greek and Latin terms that are found easily in the textbooks.

Environmental studies have become increasingly integral to modern day curricula.

At the edge of the rainforest inWynad, Kerala, some children are sleeping on the floor of a large room.

Suppose you are sitting around at home one day feeling somewhat bored.

Living in a world filled with the by-products of human technological advances, one senses the tidal wave of globalization that sweeps across the planet, carrying with it hi-tech products, new lifestyles and a consumer culture to far corners of the globe.

Have you recently talked with a three year old, and come away slightly dazed at the degree of sophistication in her conversation - the concepts she understands and applies so appropriately to each situation?

Stephen Jay Gould is one of the most popular writers on science today.

A New Journal Prism: A Learning journal is a publication of Prism Communication, a Paris-based language training association, edited by Richard Laubly and Helen Schall, 151, Rue du Fauborg- Poissonniere, 75009 Paris.