India has or rather had the knowledge of the Spirit, but she neglected matter and suffered for it.

The West has the knowledge of matter but rejected the Spirit and suffers badly for it.

An integral education which could, with some variations, be adapted to all the nations of the world, must bring back the legitimate authority of the Spirit over a matter fully developed and utilised.

- The Mother

Objective

To introduce, guide and mentor a group of up to 12-15 teachers of Primary & Pre-Primary level in a school, in the understanding and practical application of the principles of Integral Education, both in their personal life and in academia. During the Course, we will also help the teachers in integrating the Integral Education Approach & Practices into the classroom teaching. The total duration of the course will be spread over a period of 11 months.

Premise & Pre-Requisite

Integral Education can be best introduced into an educational space, not through academic set-up alone but through those who are practitioners of Integral Education. An initial understanding and familiarity can only be a beginning. This has to be followed up with a set of IE practices, leading to the beginning of one’s inner transformation. As the Mother puts it, the first thing is “to educate oneself, to become conscious and master of oneself”. By bringing such aspirants together, we need to create a collectivity of people who can create an atmosphere of IE, where further integration of IE into work-space, study-fields and collective life can be attempted.

Pre-requisite: Before we engage with the teachers, the school management should have the conviction of the role of IE in having a more meaningful, purposeful education at their school. For this, there needs to be a 3-day visit by the core management team of the school to Puducherry, where an initial exposure will be given by us. Once the management is convinced of implementing IE in their school, SAFIER will take up the direct engagement with the teachers of the school through the IE Basic Course of 11 months duration.

As a preliminary step, we will gather the background details of the School and the participants of the Course. If needed, SAFIER Team will visit the school to know more about how education happens in the school and also to briefly interact with the selected group of teachers.

Course Outline

This experiential IE Basic Course duration will be of 11 months, covering theory & practices in the form of Workshops and Online follow-up sessions. The Course is divided into four Phases, each leading into the next one. Please note that the final Course Content and the workshop venue mentioned below, can be arrived at after mutual discussions.

Course Book: Throughout the course, we will be closely following the book “Sri Aurobindo and the Mother On Education”. Other Course materials will be given as & when required.

Course Facilitators: The Lead facilitators for this engagement will be Shivakumar and Priti of SAFIER, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry.

Course for Implementing Integral Education in Schools

Integral Education: Theory & Practices

Attendance & Participation by Participant-Teachers:

The School management has to ensure that the participants are allowed to attend all the sessions without fail. This will help in the smooth conducting of the sessions with full participation and maximum assimilation of the session contents, and moving forward as a group.

Throughout the Course, every participant will have to commit an extra 2 hours/week for doing the assignments, projects and other practices.

Course Contribution
There is a Course Contribution which is subject to various factors related to the background of the School. The contribution will be in the form of donation in favour of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry. Besides the Course Contribution, all travel, stay & food costs for the facilitators and participants, as needed, for the workshop will have to be borne by the School.

All donations/contribution to our educational activities are eligible for 100% deduction under Section 35(1)(iii) of Income Tax Act.
Course Certificate: At the end of the course, all the participants will be given a Certificate of Participation, jointly issued by Sri Aurobindo Society & the School.

SYNOPSIS OF PHASE-WISE COURSE CONTENT

Phase I: Introductory Workshop & Follow-Up

Duration: 3 months (preferably, March – May)

The first phase will begin with a 3-day Introductory Workshop at the premises of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry. The focus will be on

1) taking a look at the current educational system through the lens of IE

2) an introduction to the Founders of Integral Education

3) initiating an understanding of the basic approach & framework of Integral Education, in the form of 5-fold education

4) to introduce some of the best classroom practices to improve education in the current classroom scenario

After the workshop, an assignment will be given, and there will be at least one follow-up online session/month of 90 minutes each until the next workshop. A mutually convenient date for the next workshop is to be worked out by the end of Phase I.

Phase II: Workshop on Physical Education & Follow-Up

Duration: 3 months (June – August)

Phase II will have a 3-day workshop at the premises of the School where we will be taking up, specifically,

1) an introduction to Theory & Practice of Physical Education, based on IE approach

2) implementing a 4-point programme for improving Physical Life-style of Teachers

3) introduction to body awareness, co-operative and obstacle games

We will follow-up the workshop with a post-workshop Assignment and at least 2 online sessions of 90 minutes each. This will be a beginning towards building an integral Physical Culture of the Teachers and subsequently, for the entire school itself. A mutually convenient date for the next workshop is to be worked out by the end of Phase II.

Phase III: Workshop on Vital Education & Follow-Up

Duration: 4 months (Sept. – Jan.)

Phase III will have a 2½-day workshop at the School premises where we will be taking up the introduction to Vital Education, covering the following:

Sense Development as the beginning of Vital Education
The triple doorway to Vital Refinement: Poetry-Art-Music
Awakening to the Emotions & their Development, as part of Vital Education
Inculcation of Universal Values for Character Building as part of Vital Education

We will follow-up the workshop with at least 2 online sessions of 90 minutes each and then a mini-Project along with an Assignment will have to be done by the participants during the break period of December & January. A mutually convenient date for the next workshop is to be worked out by the end of Phase III.

Phase IV: Workshop on Mental Education & Follow-Up

Duration: 3½ days (February - March)

Phase IV will have a 3½-day workshop at the premises of Sri Aurobindo Society where we will be taking up the introduction to Mental Education. We will follow-up the workshop in the capacity of Advisory for at least one more month. Further collaboration etc. can be worked out after this.

Introduction to the 3 Principles of True Teaching
Knowing the Mind & Developing Its Powers (Eg. Observation, concentration, imagination, intuition)
Introduction to the Integral Project based Learning (IPBL) method based on the three principles of IE
Curriculum planning of the School, by integrating IPBL into classroom teaching-learning

After the conclusion of the workshop, a meeting is required with the school management to discuss the implementation programme and further deepening & strengthening of IE exposure to the teachers. Also, we will follow-up with the IE-integrated planned curriculum of the next academic year’s time-table, through one online session of 90 minutes duration, after a month’s time.