A Centenary Tribute

The Integral Way of Self-Perfection: Practical Experiments in Integral Education

THE 20th century has brought to the forefront the needs of the child. The effect on education systems at large has been significant. Even though one may critique the many gaps still remaining even in simple terms of access and retention, there is no doubt that the concept of a child-friendly education has become the norm for people's thinking on education. Today when we take a look at the educational changes across the world, we see a curious mix of education based on ancient cultures and folk traditions, on colonial legacies, on educational theories, on religious and spiritual philosophies, and on government policies of economic growth. Yet, all share a common concern - the growth of the individual and society. Add to this the growing endeavour to make education more relevant for the child and one would expect a happy schooling - but, as we all know, this is not the case.

What is really wrong with education today? Is it only the examination system which is the culprit or is it 'the diploma disease', as Ronald Dore¹ terms it? Why is the government machinery - across the world - unable to churn out successful, happy and balanced individuals, healthy in mind, life and body and building a society that is just and equitable? Much research is taking place in pedagogy and child psychology and, no doubt, some advances have been

1. Dore, Ronald, The Diploma Disease: Education, Qualification and Development, London: Institute of Education, University of London, 2nd edition, 1997.

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made. The children who pass out of the so-called progressive schools (refer to Real Education², for instance) are definitely more sensitive and humane, some are successful as well and most are concerned about the earth and social world. Do they remain so? and what happens to them afterwards? These are questions difficult to answer for lack of research.

However, a track record of the ex-students of any school -be it Doon, Mayo or Rishi Valley - shows a distinct stamp of the school culture and values in the majority of cases. One can also witness certain adaptations which most have made to come to an understanding with the 'old world' in which they must continue to operate - the larger reality into which they enter after school. Only the very strong are able to leave a distinct stamp - many get submerged by the strong tide of routine and convention and competition. Some even start questioning the purpose of an education which is off the norm. But, all - even those who apparently turn against it - all carry the vision of what society could become, given a chance, expressing it either through a nostalgia for school life or through a marked drive that makes it come true - at least in their own lives.

What is it that contributes to this difference and if it works, why is it in small pockets only? Perhaps the reason is that none has been able to satisfy the two-fold demand which society places on education - of individual and collective growth, of competition and cooperation, of right and left-brain development, of self and life mastery. One does come across individuals who are a delight and a marvel because they combine in themselves the qualities of the scientist and the artist and the athlete. How did they achieve this synthesis? Education has not attempted such integration systematically, though nobody would deny that it is a worthwhile aim to have. Perhaps some might question its feasibility - is it possible to do so on a large scale, in a

2. Gribble, David, Real Education: Varieties of Freedom, Bristol: Libertarian Education, 1998.

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systematic manner are all individuals capable of such an integration?

This is a challenge that Integral Education addresses. How is it put into practice? Let us try and understand some of the key principles in the application of Integral Education, that one needs to emphasise.

The current notions of all-round development - including the western concept of integrated education - limit themselves to intellectual and physical training, with some kind of value education thrown in. Their starting point is subject matter - 'all-round' refers to knowing something of everything (so, more and more subjects are brought in) or doing a little of everything (hence, extra-curricular is added to curricular); 'integrated' refers to combining different disciplines (therefore, the shift to project work from subject teaching). These are important steps forward but they are not quite what is meant by Integral Education.

In fact, the unfortunate thing about modern education is that it has created a schism between who the individual is in totality and what he will learn or become. And, therefore, what we learn in school we rapidly abandon as irrelevant to our real life and our real selves. Integral Education bridges the gulf between the different parts of the individual by giving them an equal scope of development systematically. Its first focus is on the training of the outer being (physical, vital and mental) - carried out in an environment that acknowledges, subtly calls forth and nurtures the inner being, the psychic and the spiritual in the child.

Perfection of the mind, the emotional being and character of the student, as well as of the physical being, are the legitimate aims of Integral Education - the study of subjects becomes a means towards perfection, rather than an end or the only way to a successful life. Thus, a teacher endeavours to train the mind of the pupil - the capacity for attention and concentration, the ability to exercise reasoning and judgment, the powers of observation and memory, and so forth. The important point to remember is that the teacher will not

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get trapped by a wish to impart information or facts, but will let the child apply her mind to observing, reasoning, discovering, learning - the retention will automatically improve and it would naturally achieve the short term aims of subject mastery (that formal education targets) while actually aiming at a much larger aim - that of self-mastery through mental perfection. Such a student may apply his mind to anything and he will be able to pierce it with his trained intellect and enter its heart to get a hold on the treasures of knowledge concealed therein.

How are the emotional being and character trained? Not through classes in moral or religious education. Life itself is the great teacher - we all learn our moral lessons best from the living examples of people real to us and our natures are trained through our daily interactions and collective work. Keeping this in mind, the teacher uses each opportunity that the school life offers to put before the children a high ideal which something in their own deeper selves, their soul, responds to - a noble aim - and then acts as a mirror (reflecting, without praise or blame) to the child in the choices she makes with regard to her daily actions. Of course, some basic rules of conduct might be in operation - as is the need of a collective life. But, the general endeavour is at becoming aware of one's weaknesses and strengths without taking them to be the final truth about oneself. In this manner one is free from taking credit or blame and can truly choose to have in one's nature the qualities that are needed to achieve one's aims. It is not a simple task, but the living example of the teacher helps. The first, and perhaps the only necessity for an integral education teacher is to live these aims and ideals in her own life, to be an initiate in the path of perfection (no B.Ed, offers this unfortunately).

The physical being and its training holds a very important place in Integral Education as the body is acknowledged as the adhara, the base for all other activity. (Even to progress spiritually one needs a sound body which can contain the intense energy generated through tapas). Health, hygiene,

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exercise, stamina, agility, food, sleep and rest - all these and more form part of an integral physical culture.

Keeping these features in mind let us review two educational experiments, aiming at an integral way of self-perfection: the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Pondicherry, and The Gnostic Centre, New Delhi.

The Ashram school (SAICE) has taken up the integral training of mind, life and body. This is apparent in the way the student life is organised and the manner in which subject teaching is carried out. A daily programme of one to two hours of physical education is a must for each student -even on Sundays. There are ample opportunities to learn the arts and most students voluntarily fix classes for themselves during their leisure time to learn 2-3 different arts. The subject teaching is interactive and participatory - one finds very few lecture classes, most of the time it is through activities, discussions, presentations, worksheets, project work, fieldwork, self-study, research. Things are more structured in the junior classes as compared to the senior classes where the students may frame their own timetable and also opt for particular teachers or subjects.

In fact, one of the noteworthy features of this system is the attempt to integrate freedom and discipline, structure and free play. Thus one finds that while physical education is a must (as the body is a being of habits and the sooner it acquires the right ones, the better it is for the child's future growth and work), in the field of intellectual training, there is more freedom and diversity. It is curious that in modern schools the opposite normally holds true - a child may or may not do physical education, but all children have to sit through the same lesson with no scope of diversity or choice.

Thus, the training of the mental faculties, the development of physical health and capabilities, the shaping of the human character and senses, the nurturing of the higher qualities - these provide education a truly all-round character - which is the scope of Integral Education.

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Yet another level of integration is of the past with the present and future, of the near with the far or distant. While starting from the context of the student, it aims at integrating all that is of value in times ancient and modern, in various cultures and traditions - eastern as well as western. The living proof of this may be found in the Ashram school where the Ashramite teachers are fluent equally in Sanskrit and French (besides other languages such as Bengali, Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati, English) - in fact, every student studies both French and Sanskrit and the mother tongue from his very first years in the school. Maths and science are taught in French and other subjects in English; languages are taught in their own respective language. It is no surprise to come across a dhoti-attired gentleman holding forth in French, and a short-clad youngster conversing in Sanskrit. As mentioned earlier, the teachers are up to date with the latest developments in various fields (modern science included).

The question which now arises is this: Can Integral Education be adopted as a fit methodology for all? The potential exists, because a true integral education would necessarily mean a variety of systems which emerge out of the context of the people involved in it. It cannot be something rigid and uniformly applied to all. This naturally puts greater demands on the school administration, policy makers, teacher educators and teachers. This I think is the real obstacle in the way of an integral education at a larger collective level. Of course, other arguments are put forth by people, namely, the small class size at the Ashram school (on an average, 15 students in one class), the low pupil-teacher ratio, the absence of a rigid curriculum and no examinations. It is true that all these features do contribute greatly to the practice of Integral Education, but if you question the teachers at the Ashram school, even they would say that they are quite far from achieving the aims of an integral education and the last 60 years have been an experiment, an adventure in education - not the final word.

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Here lies the crux of the matter. The outer features, the particular systems have only a secondary importance. The real thing is the aim and the sincerity of the endeavour. To understand this further, let us look at another educational experiment: The Gnostic Centre.

Far away from the hectic pace, noise, pollution and chaos of the city, bordering on Gurgaon, in Bijwasan, is a peaceful and amazingly beautiful Gnostic Centre nestling amongst an abundance of trees and vast open spaces of a charming and rustic horse-breeding farm. As you enter the campus, silence descends upon you. Set up in 1996 by a group of young professionals, the Centre aims at developing formats to facilitate and support the individual's quest for self-perfection. Its focus is education in its widest sense - schools and colleges of all kinds, but also all those interactions that involve training of human resource - parenting, teacher education, human resource development, leadership and corporate training, self-development and attitudinal change.

The Centre's work cannot be circumscribed by fixed formats - it does not fit into any category - neither is it a school, though it runs a play school, nor is it a college or teacher education centre, though it provides training inputs to school and college students as well as teachers, teacher-students and educators, as well as runs its own short courses; nor is it a resource centre, though it creates numerous self-development resources in the form of journals, books, multimedia presentations, audio-cassettes. It is simply a research centre for the growth of consciousness and aLl its works aim at furthering this process - in its own team members, and in those who come in contact with the Centre. This, in fact, is the core of Integral Education.

And therefore, nothing can be excluded from the scope of Integral Education. It is this integrality that makes Integral Education universally applicable. At the Gnostic Centre, the quest has been to identify those core principles of Integral Education that can be relevant and applicable in all situations, to all kinds of groups as well as individuals -

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which are not dependent on structures but can determine the structures as well as operate through diverse structures.

The Gnostic Centre too is based on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's philosophy, just as SAICE is. Outwardly the two are very different expressions, but at the core it is the same principles informing both the experiments - freedom, individuality, perfection, integrality.

What are the implications of the above for the school system?

The first essential is to acknowledge the integral perfection of the human being as the legitimate aim of education, and to believe that it is possible anywhere, any time, for anyone. The second is to sincerely attempt -first of all for oneself - to perfect oneself, i.e., to inform one's life with a high aim and to set foot on the journey of self-mastery through a training of one's physical, emotional, intellectual being; and then - or simultaneously -for the students. It does not necessarily mean that first the school system has to change - though that helps no doubt, but is often not possible immediately - the important thing is to begin wherever you are.

A teacher might find this a daunting task but bringing in elements of faculty training, discovery learning, character building, etc., are aims already being tried out in the West with some success, and are being imported to India by the government through massive teacher training programmes. However, until and unless they rest on an inner shift in our perspective of the human being, his origin and aim and potential, they cannot be termed integral in the sense we use the term. Yet, these can be utilised to a greater advantage than perceived by the West itself, to serve the ends of an integral education.

How all this might be worked out is a question beyond the scope of this article - as the particular means will have to be evolved in specific contexts. The urgency to begin is particularly poignant now when an environment exists for child-friendly education, yet there is a vacuum of ideology

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and a plethora of activities. The danger is that one might end up once again imposing all sorts of child-friendly techniques carefully thought out by adults in an alien context and then wonder why the children are not responding with an abiding interest and delight. Until and unless education bases itself on an integral understanding of the child, her needs and possibilities, and responds integrally to these in a dynamic way, there is little hope that a radical change could be effected in the system. We have a few examples before us,³ the call now is to create many.

3. Besides the case studies presented here, Mirambika too - a school set up in 1981 at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Delhi branch) - has attempted to implement the same principles but in a very different context - of a highly competitive metropolitan city. It is an interesting case study for those who wish to make a difference to education.

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