Compilation of The Mother’s articles, messages, letters and conversations on education and 3 dramas in French: 'Towards the Future', 'The Great Secret' and 'The Ascent to Truth'.
On Education
Dans ce volume ont été réunis des articles, des messages, des lettres et des conversations de la Mère avec des étudiants et des professeurs de l’école de l’Ashram, et trois pièces de théâtre : Vers l’Avenir, Le Grand Secret et L’Ascension vers la Vérité.
This volume is a compilation of The Mother’s articles, messages, letters and conversations on education. Three dramas, written for the annual dramatic performance of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, are also included. The Mother wrote three dramas in French: 'Towards the Future' produced in 1949, 'The Great Secret' in 1954 and 'The Ascent to Truth' in 1957.
THEME/S
This section consists mainly of the Mother's correspondence and conversations with the students and teachers of the Centre of Education. Some messages and letters to other institutions and individuals are also included. Most of the statements were originally in French. Some were first published in various Ashram books and journals; others are presented here for the first time.
Dated statements within a subsection are usually placed in chronological order, undated pieces where they best fit in.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Mother's educational guidance was limited to instructing a few individuals in French and offering general counsel in other courses of study. At that time, children were not permitted, as a rule, to live in the Ashram. In the early 1940s, a number of families were admitted to the Ashram and instruction was initiated for the children. On 2 December 1943, the Mother formally opened a school for about twenty children. She herself was one of the teachers. The number of pupils gradually increased during the next seven years.
On 24 April 1951, the Mother presided over a convention where it was resolved to establish an "international university centre". On 6 January 1952, she inaugurated the Sri Aurobindo International University Centre. The name was changed in 1959 to the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education.
At present, the Centre of Education has about 150 full or part-time teachers and 500 students, ranging from nursery to advanced levels. The curriculum includes the humanities, languages, fine arts, sciences, engineering, technology and vocational training. Facilities include libraries, laboratories, workshops, and a theatre and studios for drama, dance, music, painting, etc.
The Centre of Education seeks to develop every aspect of the individual, rather than to concentrate exclusively on mental training. It employs what is called the "Free Progress System", which is, in the Mother’s words, "a progress guided by the soul and not subject to habits, conventions or preconceived ideas."
Page 109
The student is encouraged to learn by himself, choose his subjects of study, progress at his own pace and ultimately to take charge of his own development. The teacher is more an advisor and source of information than an instructor. In practice, the system is adapted to the temperament of teacher and student, and some still prefer the traditional methods of education, utilising prescribed courses of study with direct instruction by the teacher.
Sciences and mathematics are studied in French, other subjects in English. Each student is encouraged to learn his mother-tongue, and some study additional languages, both Indian and European.
The Centre of Education does not award degrees or diplomas, since it seeks to awaken in its students a joy of learning and an aspiration for progress that are independent of outer motives.
Page 110
One of the most recent forms under which Sri Aurobindo conceived of the development of his work was to establish at Pondicherry an International University Centre open to students from all over the world.
It is considered that the most fitting memorial to his name would be to found this University now so as to give concrete expression to the fact that his work continues with unabated vigour.
1951
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