... Principles and Goals of Integral Education VII Training in the Use of the "Free Progress" System (A few practical words to the students) The Mother favoured the "Free Progress" System of education for the outstanding students for the full flowering of all their potential and for the development of their true swadharma, self-nature... self-nature. But it is not very easy on the part of an untrained average student to utilise the methodology of free progress in the right way. For example, in the Higher Course of SAICE, where the free progress system is in full operation since 1968, it is found that many students fumble in practice in making the proper choice. For, there, an individual student has full freedom to choose (i) the subjects of... control. To act freely one has first to "know" oneself and "master" oneself. Without having sufficient training in these two psychological operations, it is vain to expect that one can use the "Free Progress" system in the right and convenient way. To remove any possible lingering doubt in the mind of the students, let us cite two concrete examples, which, we hope, will make the point unambiguously ...
... X, who taught by the free-progress system, and Y who taught partly by the "old system". In the free-progress system the student chooses his own course of studies and is guided by the teacher. In the old system the student follows a set course of studies determined by the teacher, who instructs the students as a group. This is what I think: in the free-progress system, there are no classes... silence? And not ten minutes which you will spend trying to get hold of everything you may know mentally about the subject, 1. The name given by the Mother to a group of classes based on the Free Progress System. Page-234 no, no ten minutes during which you Will be just like this, blank, still, silent, attentive... attentive and silent." Now, if the teacher is a true teacher ...
... Principles and Goals of Integral Education VI Problems in "Free Progress" System If we adopt the system of "Free Progress" in imparting education to the students in our school, some basic problems arise and confront the teachers and the organisers, and they demand satisfactory solutions. Here, for example, is one of them which was placed before... something to be lived much more than to be taught." (Ibid., p. 176) Page 64 One Specific Problem: The Problem of the Multitude If one adopts the "Free Progress" System in any Centre of Education, the organisers and those in charge of teaching are bound to encounter a serious problem, the problem of an inordinately large number. Normally, many, many students... (Ibid., pp. 173-74) (3) "Just as we organise the school in such a way as to be able to discover and help outstanding students, in the same way, the responsibility for classes [in the "Free Progress" System] should be given to outstanding teachers. So I ask each teacher to consider his work in the school as the best and quickest way of doing his Yoga. Moreover, every difficulty and every ...
... towards a new symphony of aspiration and achievement. III As regards the Free Progress system itself, it was far easier to misunderstand or misrepresent it than to grasp all its implications and possibilities and set them forth convincingly in merely logical categories. How exactly free was this Free Progress system? The discipline of freedom could be far more exacting than the rule of mechanical... education, and whatever affirmed and advanced the dynamism of life, the need for adventure and the endless possibility of progress through controlled experimentation was education's ally. The Free Progress system, as the Mother visualised it, was thus no rigid lifeless body of procedures, no high sounding dogma, no structure of theory, but something as large and as complex and as evolutionary as life... the effect of the memorandum on the ultimate findings of the Education Commission, it at least throws abundant light on the ideals of the Centre of Education and the deeper meaning behind the Free Progress system. V The Mother was a Yogi in excelsis, and by native right and in response to human needs headed the Ashram; she was a born educator (education being a form of Yoga), and she was ...
... and what can you explain of the Free Progress System? Sunil-da was my botany teacher and he was absolutely wonderful. He was so innovative and imaginative. Tehmiben was also an excellent teacher. I learned many things from her. Mother once said to the teachers, “Why do you give exams?” Mother was very much against testing and homework so the Free Progress System was introduced, but Mother said... said, “It is not for everyone, it is only meant for those who are capable and have the discipline to study on their own and decide what it is that they want to do.” The Free Progress System has been a bit chaotic and has not always been properly implemented. It is still in the process of development after all these years. Most teachers develop their own methods of teaching from within and from their own ...
... far as possible, what is called the free progress system. In this system the student is encouraged to assume responsibility for his own growth by choosing his own courses of study and pursuing them largely on his own. The teacher acts primarily as a guide rather than an instructor. In practice, the school's teaching system is a combination of the free progress system and the traditional method of direct ...
... observation of the students and their capacities. ( Below is a summary of questions concerning two groups of classes for children of fourteen to eighteen. Though both groups were based on the Free Progress System, the programme of "En Avant" was more structured than that of "Vers la Perfection". ) 1) There are some differences of opinion among the teachers about the direction that should be taken... Mother for publication. × The name given by the Mother to a group of classes based on the Free Progress System. × Here are listed only five of the fourteen proposals upon which the Mother's reply is based ...
... we would decide what to do. First of all, before I reply, I would like to know exactly, in a very, very practical and material way, what the difference is. This is what I think: in the free-progress system, there are no classes with all the students sitting down, with the teacher on his dais lecturing the whole time; there are students sitting down here and there, at their tables. They do the... to the age of the children. × The name given by Mother to a group of classes based on the Free Progress System. ...
... of the "Free Progress" System of education. However, all the students may not be at once up to the mark of the teachers' expectation. For them, here are some words, words of admonition and warning: It seems necessary to draw once again the attention of Page 115 the students to the capital role that discipline should play in our "Free Progress" system of education ...
... That was the reason for his explaining to me the entire set-up. And so as per Her wishes, Paru, Dhanvanti and myself took on the responsibility of 45 students of this Free Progress system. Whether this concept of the Free Progress system originated from the Mother, I couldn't say, but it was extraordinary. If I were to highlight the special qualities of the educational philosophy behind this system, ...
... the Ashram School. As a teacher in Knowledge, we are somewhat at the mercy of the students. They are free to learn whatever they want and that is what we must teach. It is a form of the Free Progress system. If they want to read Essays on the Gita or Synthesis, then we, as teachers, must be adequately informed. Reading Sri Aurobindo’s works at age thirty is different from reading him at age sixty ...
... for many years] who wanted to educate the children in a different way. Instead of having classes following the teacher, the teachers would follow the students. This was the beginning of the Free Progress system. If a child asked a question and it led to some other subject it was okay. The Mother said if a child did not want to study he or she was free to be ignorant. It did not mean that they had no ...
... teach and to conduct a class one must move away from theory and intellectual speculations 1. A group of classes based on the Free Progress System. Page 62 to a very concrete application which has to be worked out in all its details. Learning to teach While taking a class is certainly very good for the would ...
... 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 ...
... the development of higher faculties of inner knowledge and intuition; — that may be regarded as the heart of the work of the teachers. An adequate organisation of the above working of the Free Progress System would need the following: - A Room or Rooms of Silence, to which the students who would like to do uninterrupted work or would like to reflect or meditate in silence can go as and when ...
... p. 173) In any case, the Mother would want that for the proper flowering of an individual student with all his potentialities and possibilities coming out into open realisation, the free progress system of education needs to be adopted. Instead of a teacher deciding everything for his students, even what he benevolently considers good for them, he should afford all scope to the students themselves ...
... that young age. But how many children get to select the right kind of books to read? Allow me to quote some advice given by the Mother on this subject. Many years later, we started the Free Progress System in our school. There was a lot of excitement in the air. The Mother spoke to the teachers about the selection of novels for students. She said: There should be very few novels in the school ...
... She had asked Pavitra-da to inform Tanmay-da that whenever Arup needed anything for his drawings (paper, paints etc.) the school should provide him with everything. Arup was then part of the 'Free Progress' system. Some time later,when Tanmay-da went to see the Mother about school work, She instructed him that if ever Arup felt like painting in the middle of a class, he should be permitted to do so. If ...
... visit of Soviet gymnasts 623 distinctive aspects 678 teacher-pupil relationship in 625-7, 677 visits of the Education and the University Grants Commissions 695, 715, 731-2, 754 'Free progress' system 728ff Chadwick, J.A. see Arjava Chakravarty, Jnanendranath 15fn Chamberlain, Neville 395-6, 403 Champaklal Purani 212, 222, 227, 231, 235-6, 239, 246, 254, 283, 288, 323, 328-9, 339 ...
... scientist. His canvas in this book is very wide. He enunciates in depth the principles and goals of Integral Education, the role and responsibility of the teachers and explains the basis of the "Free Progress" system. He also takes up in detail the aim, the purpose and the courses at SAICE and gives an inside view of its practical working. Jugal-da does not hesitate to bring to light the difficulties and ...
... into shape by the parent or teacher is a barbarous and ignorant superstition. It is he himself who must be induced to expand according to his own nature.' These ideas are at the core of the Free Progress System of education followed in the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education at the Pondicherry Ashram. As at Baroda, Sri Aurobindo was held in great respect and admiration by his students ...
... of the Ashram, in introducing the new methods of teaching she wanted, as well as in planning the courses of studies for the students. The system of education now followed at the Centre, the Free Progress System, is largely her own creation and it has evoked admiration from many eminent educationists who have come to the Ashram. As the number of children increased, the Mother felt the necessity of ...
... Education and the Aim of human life OUR NEW SYSTEM OF EDUCATION ( The Free Progress System ) A series of three lectures delivered by the means to the teachers Sri Aurobindo centre Of Education on September 24 and October 22, 1961. Page 83 I How the Child Educates Himself In Sri Aurobindo's The Human Cycle ...
... equipped to take their place in the rat-race of the outside world. The aim really is to usher in a new race, ready to face and shape the future, and leave the past far, far behind. The "free progress system" now in force at the Centre of Education expects the pupil to follow Satyakama Jabala's example and rely on his soul rather than on habits, conventions or preconceived ideas. The whole aim is ...
... should offer itself at the feet of the Divine. The Mother told Nirod-da a lot of things about the pranam. Nirod-da and two other teachers from our School often went to see the Mother. The ‘Free Progress’ system had just been initiated in the School. The teachers were facing all kinds of problems and difficulties and the Mother would try to explain each problem to them and give Her view. If they had ...
... enjoying this so much that they did not want to do anything else! The entire hour with me in the spoken French class just went into story-creation. But then this was the particularity of the Free Progress system: students were allowed to pursue whatever they had chosen for as long as they wished if the teacher felt that it was being done with sincere concentration and interest. There was no rigidity ...
... were to be made accordingly. And so, taking the Mother's advice, we started classes in the afternoon and at night. In the mornings, I would be busy at school with the French classes in the Free Progress system and in the afternoon and at night, with the singing classes in the Music section. Kireet-bhai made all the arrangements to equip the Music section with the necessary instruments, - harmoniums ...
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