To be whole, I believe, is a fundamental yearning in each of us. What does this mean? And how does this urge arise and seek expression in my life? What does this have to do with education, with learning? I briefly explore these questions.
In asking the question, ‘what is it to care?’, I also wonder what it means ‘to be cared for?’ We readily recognize, for instance, that children need to be cared for, as do our aging parents. Children need adults who are engaged and responsive, looking out for their physical, emotional, and mental well-being, perhaps on occasion worrying about them, even at times scolding them for something or the other.
What is it to care? Read Post »
The twenty seventh issue of the Journal of Krishnamurti Schools is in your hands. Handle it with care, read and glean what you will, and do share it with others!
Why do we say this?
If you look through the titles of the articles in the contents page— whether you are a teacher, a parent, a student, or a concerned citizen with questions about education—there is something for each one here.
As we were putting together this Journal, someone asked: Is there any theme running across these articles?
‘The reflective teacher’ is a phrase that has been much in vogue in education circles for at least the past two decades. At the outset this may evoke a hazy image of a somewhat thoughtful teacher one might be happy to see teaching in our schools. The phrase became common currency sometime after the publication, in 1983, of Donald Schon’s The Reflective Practitioner.
Book Review – ‘The Reflective Teacher’ : A Review and Some Reflections Read Post »
We wake at dawn to the trilling calls of unfamiliar birds, go for a walk amidst the tea-bushes stretching row upon row on the steep slopes, bordered on the higher ridges by dense shola forests—an entirely new landscape!
On Sustaining ‘Culture Spaces’ in Schools Read Post »
Here we are with the sixteenth issue of the Journal. Run your eye over the titles on the contents page and you will get an impression that themes based on children, teaching and learning—core concerns in any journal of education—are surrounded by themes such as nature, space, spirit, touch, retreat and looking inward. How are these connected with education? That there is a vital link between all these themes and the educational enterprise is what I wish to show.
Teachers are human beings too. And being human, they share in the fears that human beings live with.
Teachers’ Fears: Some Scenarios Read Post »
The world over, we lament the state of education. We might observe directly the plight of a generation of young people weighed down by the burden of seemingly meaningless academic curricula and indifferent teaching practices, alongside spiralling aspirations for securing the ‘good life’.
We are apt to feel, in the cut and press of daily life and in the fulfilment of our responsibilities to the school and to its students, that our lives are caught up in minutiae: ongoing lesson preparation, correction of papers, assessment, examinations, meetings and administrative decisions.
It is the Educator who Needs Educating Read Post »
Krishnamurti, the quintessential teacher, offered deep insights and perspectives on the human condition and underlined the urgency of approaching the many problems of life with a new, awakened mind.
A New Initiative – The Centre for Teacher Learning Read Post »
The periodic task of writing end-of-term reports is like the visible ‘tip of an iceberg’ that comprises many layers and processes in school.
Reporting on the Middle School Child Read Post »
Rethinking the Social Studies Curriculum New ventures often begin with discontent.
Cities and Cultures: New Approaches to the Curriculum Read Post »
Objective: To help students analyse a set of advertisements and understand their responses to them.
Sample Modules for Media Literacy: Module 3: A Study of Advertisements Read Post »
Objective: a) To sensitise young readers, boys and girls, to the potent imagery in the magazine and become aware of its influences.
Sample Modules for Media Literacy: Module 2: Analyzing a Woman’s Magazine Read Post »
Objective: Creating a critical awareness of various aspects of television news.
Sample Modules for Media Literacy: Module 1: Television News Read Post »
As education concerns itself with an understanding of the world and ourselves, it must necessarily also grapple with the sources of influence and representations of reality thatwe are constantly exposed to. With the invasion of the mass media, particularly, it has become a crucial function of education to help children pay attention to the influences they imbibe and the representations they internalize.
Understanding our Media Experiences: Towards a Media Literacy Curriculum Read Post »
We live in a media-dominated society. The urban dweller’s world view is increasingly shaped by the news-bites and entertainment offered by the electronic media (with a range of 60-odd television channels and a variety of home entertainment gadgets to choose from).
Media, Society and Education: Perspectives and Issues for Our Times Read Post »
There is an urgent concern among educators about the pervasive role that the media plays in all our lives today.
Media and Education Read Post »
This journal is now six years and six issues old. Started as an in-house publication of the Krishnamurti schools, it has begun to reach out to a wider readership: to parents, teachers, educational administrators and other individuals or institutions interested in the educational issues of our times.
Geography began with the realization that there was another side to the mountain and other people across the sea.
From Local Studies Towards a Global Outlook – A New Geography for 12-year-Olds Read Post »
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.
Media and Young Minds: The Role of Education Read Post »
A year after I joined the Rishi Valley School I was asked to be a ‘house parent’ to 16 boys of ages 10 to 13.
On Being a House Parent Read Post »
