ALL USERS

[Guest guest]

Dear Raktambara

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I should be most grateful if you could send the following message from

Rasamandala Dasa to all Com users as soon as possible.

 

Thank you for your kind assistance, which is warmly appreciated.

 

YS

 

Diane

 

 

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Dear Prabhu/Maharaja

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I have the pleasure of announcing the forthcoming publication of the

curriculum materials for the new Bhakti Sastri Course, available from July

1999 through the VTE (Oxford). I anticipate that you are extremely busy,

but if you are at all interested in teaching the Bhakti Sastri Course, I'd

ask you to please read further.

 

There is no restriction on any devotees using the new materials. However,

if such teachers wish to certify students, the VTE requires that they are

themselves qualified. We anticipate that within a couple of years the

following certification will be required:

 

1. The Bhakti Sastri Certificate (a good grade)

 

2. The TTC2 Certificate (Teacher Training Course Two)

 

3. The Bhakti Sastri TTC Certificate

 

Nevertheless, in the beginning, it is not practical to implement such

standards. Rather we initially require that students can present the

following:

 

1. Evidence of sufficient knowledge, understanding etc. of the sastra

 

2. The TTC1 Certificate (Teacher Training Course One)

 

3. The Bhakti Sastri TTC Certificate

 

Please note: (1) that these requirements are somewhat tentative and will be

finalised by May.

 

(2) All teachers are also required to follow the four

regulative principles and chant 16 rounds of the Hare

Krishna mantra.

 

In order to facilitate this exciting new initiative, we are proposing a

series of Teacher Training Courses throughout the world. These will

usually consist of a TTC1 (six days) followed by the new BSTTC (two days).

Candidates already holding the TTC1 Certificate may opt for the new

two-day course only.

 

Tentatively, we have scheduled courses in Vrindavan (Karttika), Europe

(late 1999) and the USA (late 1999/early 2000). We also intend to hold

courses in other areas.

 

This is where we request your help. We wish to ascertain how much interest

there is in teaching Bhakti Sastri formally (and therefore what courses are

required).

 

If you are interested, please let us know roughly when you would like to

start teaching. Furthermore, if you know of other devotees who you think

would be interested, please ask them to contact me, or forward their

details.

 

Many thanks in anticipation of your assistance. If you have any queries or

feel I can help in any way, then do get back to me.

 

With best wishes,

 

Your servant

 

 

 

Rasamandala Das

VTE, Curriculum Development

 

P.S. Below I have included more information on the new course.

 

 

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Devotees wishing to achieve the Bhakti Sastri Certificate do not

necessarily have to attend the new course. They can simply sit the final

examinations. Many, however, may prefer to take the course, not only to

enhance their learning but because it includes continuous assessment.

Consequently for them, the final papers will be shorter than for devotees

not taking the course. (For candidates sitting the course, the final paper

constitutes only fifty per cent of the total marks. For students not taking

the course, the final papers will be twice as long). Bhakti Sastri teachers

also have the option to teach their own courses; students will then sit the

final examinations.

 

In conclusion, this course is not compulsory for those sitting the Bhakti

Sastri exam but is highly recommended.

 

The course has been designed to be suitable both to the specialist teacher

and the less experienced. Teachers are required to fulfil the aims and

objectives of the course (and by so doing, will automatically help students

qualify). Exactly how they achieve this is up to them, allowing plenty of

scope for personal initiative.

 

This course requires of students about 350-450 hours of study (in total)

and can be delivered in a number of ways, but principally:

 

· Over four months, as full time (or almost full-time) study

 

· Over one year, with students contributing about 10-12 hours per week over

36 weeks (conveniently divided into three semesters of 12 weeks)

 

· Over two years, for devotees who can contribute only 5-6 hours per week

(36 weeks per year)

 

NB. The amount of study time will naturally vary from one student to

another, largely depending on their initial familiarity with the

Bhagavad-gita and the other specified books. The time dedicated to

classes is approximately 150 hours. Assessment takes about 21 hours

in all. Self study, including reading and revision, will therefore

take up to between 180 and 280 hours (although already well-read

candidates may get away with less)

 

Although assessment takes quite some time, do keep in mind that much of

this is continuous assessment, and that between one half and two-thirds

will be open-book tests. In other words, though memorisation is in itself

important at this stage, sufficient emphasis has been given to other areas

of learning. This also relieves students of excessive (and usually counter-

productive) pressure to "cram", rather than to engage in the broader

process of learning.

 

We have tried to move away from mere memorisation of verses etc., and our

aims focus significantly on the understanding and application of sastra,

evaluative skills, and appropriate values and attitudes in applying sastra.

This naturally indicates that a certain amount of interactive learning

will be beneficial to promote the specified learning. We have therefore

included guidelines for teaching and detailed lesson plans for each lesson

(though, again, these are not compulsory). Whether or not teachers use

these, we do anticipate they will find the collections of quotes,

references etc. to be extremely useful.

 

The course development entailed a wide process of consultation and rigorous

trialling. The materials will be published to high educational and

presentational standards. They include:

 

· Three Syllabuses, each in a ring-binder (one for each of the three

sections of the course)

 

· Two Books of Quotes

 

· A Teachers Manual

 

· A Student Handbook

 

All in all, the course materials will be useful to a broad range of

devotees interested in teaching sastra, and for students will make sastric

study stimulating and relevant.

 

Further details of the Course will be available from the VTE in Oxford from

July 1999.