I believe that education is not about telling children what to do but about allowing them to find out what they should do. Hence the space for reflection and self discovery has to be made in a school. This space is combined with space to make mistakes and correct them. Better to stumble and fumble in your interactions in the relatively safe environment of the school than later…
To allow this exploration within and without, we need to have faith in human nature and in human potential to learn, and of course teachers have to be ready with a mop to clear up the mess. I mean that learning from mistakes cannot be a neat and tidy process.
The oriental mind believes in one more chance to get it right. This has something to do with a deeply held belief in reincarnation. Nothing is over here and now. We will be here again to correct our karma.
Many schools in India do allow space for yoga, breathing exercises and meditation, all of which inculcate that stillness which is needed for introspection.
Transcendental Education tracks this process of learning about life and people, the process being far from over at the end of the episode... the journey for Rahul and the Barbets has just begun…
- Madhavi Kapur wrote exclusively for us in support of the 2007 Open University / BBC co-production Indian School.
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