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The theme of this
conference, “Values for a Valuable Life” is an important
topic which is captivating many audiences all over the
world. The rampant corruption, crime, “terrorism” and
degradation of the environment that is taking place in the
world today are indicators of the societal dysfunction that
humanity faces. There is a crying need for society to re
look at its crumbling moral fiber. We witness daily people’s
inhumanity against other people, violent fighting and
killing over trivialities, road rages leading to deaths,
wanton destruction of property and general lawlessness. Many
again are entrapped in the web of fundamentalism whether
religious political or national. Young people become targets
of such fundamentalism and intolerance.
So where do values
feature in this scenario? While values are above the narrow
confines of fundamentalism they often get overshadowed by
false beliefs. Moreover our lives are so dominated by
modernism that the practice of basic values do not fit into
the picture.
What however we do
see is that young people are beginning to question the
validity of traditional values. Being honest is boring!
Being compassionate is time consuming and uncomfortable. So
then we talk about karma and explain away the disparities
that exist in our society, passing the responsibility to the
other. This is easy and comforting!
Again in most
educational systems values do not form an important aspect
of education. So when we see a school where values form an
important part of the education system we are truly
impressed.
I want to raise two issues for further discussion at this
conference.
Values exist in
relation to the opposite. There is a positive value which
opposes a negative behaviour. For instance we say do not
tell lies, or do not be insensitive, or do not be violent.
We do not say be honest or truthful, be compassionate or be
patient. Perhaps we need to explore whether the positive
reinforcement is a better way of educating both by parents
and teachers than the constant string of “don’ts” Values
need to be figured out through logical sequence. Is it
effective to talk about honesty compassion etc or is it more
effective to talk about what are the consequences of
choosing honesty rather than lies or compassion rather than
insensitivity? This is an important issue because then the
learner can figure out why it is important to learn the
value. Again it is important to present concrete examples of
consequences than abstract examples which we use eg. We want
to attain Nirvana or go to heaven and therefore we need to
behave in a particular manner.
I want to
acknowledge the important role of the partnership between
the parents and the educators as it is this partnership
which will help the child learn values. Parents and
educators have to give the same message. However we have an
added burden and that is of our society which values wealth
above all other values, it values external appearances above
internal values and it values degrees above the actual
knowledge that a person has been able to acquire.
Gandhiji
emphasized that education is not about the three R’s Reading
writing and arithmetic but about developing the mind body
and soul. This is a lifelong learning experience and it is
through this positive experience that we develop a
conscience and a sound value system.
Gandhiji said on
many occasions that he reserves the right to change his mind
about anything that he says. He explains that any
inconsistencies in his writings and statements are not
mistakes but rather an expression of his right to change his
view about things with new information experience and
knowledge. This is an important lesson for humanity today as
many of us believe that we have all the answers to all the
questions in the world. They think that they have the
monopoly over truth. Yet the truth is that until we do not
cultivate the humility that Gandhiji had we will continue to
be in serious conflict situations and sometimes even leading
to war.
Yet lifelong
learning is beautiful. We need to cultivate a spirit of joy
in learning in the young learners rather than a competitive
spirit of learning to pass exams. The pressure and trauma of
learning to pass exams is leading many young people to go
astray and even commit suicide. In some cases the idea of
corruption-copying, getting answers before hand etc are
tricks that begin to emerge at this time and as they grow up
the idea that it is okay to use underhand means becomes
entrenched. We need to really guard against this and one of
the ways is to re look at the issue of exams.
I want to commend
you for following the Montessori method of education and
learning and for the work you are doing towards building a
culture of peace here. |
