Guest guest Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Apropos the posting on education by Ajay Niranjan which begins with an apt quote “Confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith)" - Prof Jim Colin, my following article should be of use to the members of this net. ESSENTIAL LEARNING by Dr. Leo Rebello28/552 Samata Nagar, Kandivali East, Bombay 400101. Tel. 28872741. Website: www.healthwisdom.org Paper presented at the National Seminar and Inaugural Function of Council for Essential Learning and Research in Bombay on Tuesday, 27th December, 2005. The organiser of this Conference, has given me a new label to lecture on and she has put me in the post lunch session to disturb your sleep!! J I take this as a challenge to keep you wide awake, responding to each and every sentence of mine. This will help to bring out fear, anger, bitterness, resentment and guilt hidden within the dark recesses of your mind so that you can become better Educators. For etymologically "Education" means to bring out that which is within. Now who said “Child is the Father of the Man” and how many of you have read Khalil Gibran’s outstanding poem, which says, “Your child is not yours”? Today Education means pumping in lot of information into tiny tots to make them ready to compete in tomorrow's fast and furious world. In computer lingo this is galled GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. This type of education is like giving compulsory Vaccinations to develop body's immunity, not realising that those vaccines are laced with mercury and other lethal poisons and the root cause of pandemic of Autism and AIDS. Each child, unless it is a Thalidomide monster, is a perfect creation of Nature. It is when you tinker with it, like the MNCs do for profit and give you GM food that you are in for a disaster of untold magnitude. Each child has an inbuilt immunity and thousands of years of memory hidden within the cells and you know that there are thousands of cells in our bodies. Each cell is an independent entity and yet they work in unison according to natural laws, unless we tinker with that rhythm by playing God. My emphasis here will be not to dish out ready solutions, but to make you think along with me; make you better teachers to create a learner-friendly atmosphere rather than teacher-centred, four-walled, business-model of education. Incidentally, if you were to re-arrange the alphabets in the word teacher, it reads as cheater. That is what more and more teachers are becoming today with the child learning A for Admission, B for Business, C for Corruption and D for Donation. And this is in the land where Saraswati is the Goddess of Learning. My interaction with you will be in two parts. First, I would like to rip through some of the labels and fads promoted by so-called educational experts. Please know that an Expert is a person who knows more and more of less and less and note that information is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom. So here are some challenging posers My wife Kashmira who is present here specialises in Rudolf Steiner method of evolving education (which in essence is our Gurukul pattern) and also in tending to children with learning disabilities. When she was doing her course on Learning Disability, I asked her whether it is Learning Disability or is it the Teaching Disability. Why must you label a child for your inadequacies? Isn’t it the responsibility of the potter to give shape to a raw mound of earth and bake the pot to make it strong? What a good teacher should do is to make an attempt to improve in the cause of education. But I find most teachers like that proverbial tale of four blind men and the elephant – each one described the elephant according to what they touched. True education should be open, evolving, polyvalent and universal. Is learning to write with the right hand Essential? Can I not write or eat with my left hand while doing some other chore with my right hand? Can I not dance on a canvas with colours and create an outstanding painting rather than hand paint it? Have you not seen those fine creations of foot and mouth artists? Are the 3Rs -- Reading, Writing and Arithmetic essential?Must every child become a mathematical wizard like Einstein and burn the midnight oil, guzzling coffee deleterious to health, to learn mathematical formulae to reproduce in exam papers and forget soon thereafter? Incidentally do you know the full form of MATHS – it stands for Mentally Affected Teachers Harassing Students! Must a child whose fingers have not developed learn to write and since tomorrow's world will be full of gizmos, sit before a computer and spoil her eyes and cook her brain to get an early start in life? As Sydney Harris said, “The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers”. It is already happening. Is Music, Dance, Painting, Gardening essential? Is going to school essential? Can the child not learn at home? Are examinations essential for learning? Kashmira works for a Muslim girls’orphanage in Mahim twice a week, gratis. The orphan girls there are so talented and so well trained, but have absolutely no value for things. The reason is they get so many gifts and daily dawats that they are over pampered. So, tomorrow when they go out in the big, bad world from this protective environment will they know how to deal with the world or will they be misfits? Being a Muslim charity they go to Urdu schools. They say their namaz five times and dress and behave according to the Islamic Code of Conduct, including eating meals full of meat. Introducing them to superior vegetarian meals is a big task. So, my question to you is, is it Essential to bring up a child according to religious dogma or do we simply teach them human values? The next question is, is it Essential to teach values or the child imbibes them from their parents, teachers, peers, neighbours as it grows, by observation, anyway? HERE I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU A CASE HISTORY OF THE REBELLO FAMILY. I was born in Bombay into a Roman Catholic family - parents of Goan/Portuguese descent. We spoke Konkani at home, learnt through Marathi medium. My wife Kashmira is a Parsi, also born in Bombay. Gujarati speaking. Today the Rebello family converses in English. I have not converted Kashmira, nor Christened my two sons, nor have inoculated or vaccinated them. When Ronald and Robin went to English medium schools, I entered NIL in the Religion column and NA in Caste column. Are these two columns Essential for children’s learning and record? Do not they sow seeds of discrimination? Our elder son Ronald today is doing his first year of LLB after finishing his BSW. He took admission to BSW on his own. In fact we had sent him to St. Xavier’s College for admission to the Science stream so that he too can become a doctor like me. But he walked into Nirmala Niketan while passing by that side (till then he had not even heard of it), collected the prospectus, applied under general quota, was selected, passed his BSW with flying colours, then spent six months in Sweden on SIDA scholarship, and returned after visiting six countries. He can easily get a lucrative job in a MNC either due to my contacts or on his own. But he preferred to work for Adivasis and slum dwellers. These are the values we ingrained in him without any religious label attached. Our second son Robin, presently doing his second year BCA is a computer geek. He designs all my books and it is fun to participate in his mischief. One or two profound anecdotes from him. Robin goes to Church with his Granny. He asks why we are not going. We tell him, God resides in our heart and guides every action. Therefore, we do not feel the need to meet him once a week! He is satisfied with our answer and he stops going to church after his curiosity wears off. Later he learns from his science teacher that there is blood in the heart. So Robin comes home running with concern and asks – “Does God Know Swimming? You say he resides in the Heart; teacher says there is blood there. Now if he does not know swimming will he not drown?”. We tell him that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. No questions thereafter. One day, Robin rushes out of the bathroom tying a towel around his waist – “Teehee, is God in the bathroom too”? he asks. Kashmira looks at me blankly – I say to him: since he is in your heart and since you are in the bathroom, God is naturally there with you and he watches everything. Were you doing some mischief inside? Indirectly what we have conveyed to him without using the explicit words like masturbation, nudity, etc. or without giving him the hang-ups on sin that God watches over everything. One day Robin returns from school and says proudly – our God must be superior no? I ask him how? Because, our God speaks English, whereas Maya’s God speaks Marathi, Sadiq’s God speaks Urdu, and Ravi’s God speaks Tamil. Who gave him the idea of superiority of English? We tell him that God understands all languages and there is only one God, so there is no such thing as Maya’s God, Sadiq’s or Ravi’s God. No questions from Robin thereafter. We have taught our children a few simple rules to be happy: (a) Free your heart from hatred (for hate attacks are heart attacks). (b) Free your mind from worries. (For hurry, worry and curry lead to the graveyard faster) © Live simply. (d) Give more. (e) Expect less. I stopped going to church some 35 years ago. Kashmira does not go to Fire temple either, nor wears Sadra-Kasti. We do not pray because according to us hands that help are better than lips that pray. We also do not have so-called Holy books in our homes, like we do not have a Television, Refrigerator and Microwave. In fact, we had these gadgets, but we gave them away for we wish to live quality lives. Now, let us list what is Non-Essential and Essential Non Essential according to us is Religions, Religious Books and four-wall business model of education which dwarf the children. Also subjects like History, Geography, unnecessary languages like Ardhamagadhi, Pali are not essential. What is Essential according to us is: First Aid, Home Nursing, Safety and Rescue Operations, Environmental and Ecological Awareness, Yoga and Meditation, Diet and Nutrition, Music, Dance and Good Governance. I shall conclude my speech with an anecdote on New Perspective. One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the countryside with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip son?""It was great, Dad.""Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked."Oh yeah," said the son."So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?" asked the father.The son answered:"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.We have a pool that reaches upto the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.We need servants to serve us, but they serve others.We buy our food, but they grow theirs.We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are." Your heart pulsates equally like mine. Your head too gets a headache like mine. Therefore, it is better that we do not create headaches or heartaches in the world for our children or students. Essential Learning in short is Edu-Care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Hats off to you Dr. Rebello for such high thinking and being truthfully practical. May your tribe increase and forced or induced conversions stop to reduce bitterness between communities. S. M. Acharya --- " Dr. Leo Rebello " <leorebello wrote: > Apropos the posting on education by Ajay Niranjan > > which begins with an apt quote > > " Confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith) " - > Prof Jim Colin, > my following article should be of use to the members > of this net. > > > > > ESSENTIAL LEARNING > by Dr. Leo Rebello > 28/552 Samata Nagar, Kandivali East, Bombay 400101. > Tel. 28872741. > Website: www.healthwisdom.org > > > > Paper presented at the National Seminar and > Inaugural Function of Council for Essential Learning > and Research in Bombay on Tuesday, 27th December, > 2005. > > > > The organiser of this Conference, has given me a new > label to lecture on and she has put me in the post > lunch session to disturb your sleep!! J I take this > as a challenge to keep you wide awake, responding to > each and every sentence of mine. This will help to > bring out fear, anger, bitterness, resentment and > guilt hidden within the dark recesses of your mind > so that you can become better Educators. For > etymologically " Education " means to bring out that > which is within. > > > > Now who said " Child is the Father of the Man " and > how many of you have read Khalil Gibran's > outstanding poem, which says, " Your child is not > yours " ? > > > > Today Education means pumping in lot of information > into tiny tots to make them ready to compete in > tomorrow's fast and furious world. In computer lingo > this is galled GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out. This > type of education is like giving compulsory > Vaccinations to develop body's immunity, not > realising that those vaccines are laced with mercury > and other lethal poisons and the root cause of > pandemic of Autism and AIDS. > > > > Each child, unless it is a Thalidomide monster, is a > perfect creation of Nature. It is when you tinker > with it, like the MNCs do for profit and give you GM > food that you are in for a disaster of untold > magnitude. > > > > Each child has an inbuilt immunity and thousands of > years of memory hidden within the cells and you know > that there are thousands of cells in our bodies. > Each cell is an independent entity and yet they work > in unison according to natural laws, unless we > tinker with that rhythm by playing God. > > > > My emphasis here will be not to dish out ready > solutions, but to make you think along with me; make > you better teachers to create a learner-friendly > atmosphere rather than teacher-centred, four-walled, > business-model of education. Incidentally, if you > were to re-arrange the alphabets in the word > teacher, it reads as cheater. That is what more and > more teachers are becoming today with the child > learning A for Admission, B for Business, C for > Corruption and D for Donation. And this is in the > land where Saraswati is the Goddess of Learning. > > > > My interaction with you will be in two parts. First, > I would like to rip through some of the labels and > fads promoted by so-called educational experts. > Please know that an Expert is a person who knows > more and more of less and less and note that > information is not knowledge and knowledge is not > wisdom. > > > > So here are some challenging posers > > My wife Kashmira who is present here specialises in > Rudolf Steiner method of evolving education (which > in essence is our Gurukul pattern) and also in > tending to children with learning disabilities. > > > > When she was doing her course on Learning > Disability, I asked her whether it is Learning > Disability or is it the Teaching Disability. Why > must you label a child for your inadequacies? Isn't > it the responsibility of the potter to give shape to > a raw mound of earth and bake the pot to make it > strong? > > > > What a good teacher should do is to make an attempt > to improve in the cause of education. But I find > most teachers like that proverbial tale of four > blind men and the elephant - each one described the > elephant according to what they touched. True > education should be open, evolving, polyvalent and > universal. > > > > > Is learning to write with the right hand Essential? > > Can I not write or eat with my left hand while doing > some other chore with my right hand? > Can I not dance on a canvas with colours and create > an outstanding painting rather than hand paint it? > Have you not seen those fine creations of foot and > mouth artists? > Are the 3Rs -- Reading, Writing and Arithmetic > essential? > Must every child become a mathematical wizard like > Einstein and burn the midnight oil, guzzling coffee > deleterious to health, to learn mathematical > formulae to reproduce in exam papers and forget soon > thereafter? Incidentally do you know the full form > of MATHS - it stands for Mentally Affected Teachers > Harassing Students! > > > > Must a child whose fingers have not developed learn > to write and since tomorrow's world will be full of > gizmos, sit before a computer and spoil her eyes and > cook her brain to get an early start in life? As > Sydney Harris said, " The real danger is not that > computers will begin to think like men, but that men > will begin to think like computers " . It is already > happening. > > Is Music, Dance, Painting, Gardening essential? Is > going to school essential? Can the child not learn > at home? Are examinations essential for learning? > > > > Kashmira works for a Muslim girls'orphanage in Mahim > twice a week, gratis. The orphan girls there are so > talented and so well trained, but have absolutely no > value for things. The reason is they get so many > gifts and daily dawats that they are over pampered. > So, tomorrow when they go out in the big, bad world > from this protective environment will they know how > to deal with the world or will they be misfits? > Being a Muslim charity they go to Urdu schools. They > say their namaz five times and dress and behave > according to the Islamic Code of Conduct, including > eating meals full of meat. Introducing them to > superior vegetarian meals is a big task. > > > > So, my question to you is, is it Essential to bring > up a child according to religious dogma or do we > simply teach them human values? The next question > is, is it Essential to teach values or the child > imbibes them from their parents, teachers, peers, > neighbours as it grows, by observation, anyway? > > > > HERE I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU A CASE HISTORY OF THE > REBELLO FAMILY. > > I was born in Bombay into a Roman Catholic family - > parents of Goan/Portuguese descent. We spoke Konkani > at home, learnt through Marathi medium. My wife > Kashmira is a Parsi, also born in Bombay. Gujarati > speaking. Today the Rebello family converses in > English. > > > === message truncated === Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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