ACADEMIC WORK BY SACAR STUDENTS

Editor’s Note: We are happy to share with readers an assignment submitted by one of our students in the course Principles of Integral Education. Before presenting the assignment we feel it will be helpful to review some of the advice given by the Mother to classroom teachers for working with children. The student assignment that follows this short compilation of the Mother’s words will serve as an application of some of this advice in an imaginary classroom scenario. The focus of the student assignment is on a specific topic chosen by her, namely, working with children of different temperaments.

The particular assignment illustrates the fact that at SACAR we encourage students to dig deeper into particular topics of their interest and at the same time many of the course assignments also help students develop the faculties of imagination and application.
We thank Shantha Rajan for her valuable help in preparing this compilation of relevant quotes from the Mother.

WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN CLASSROOMS:
ADVICE FOR TEACHERS

On fear

When a child has done something wrong, see that he confesses it to you spontaneously and frankly; and when he has confessed, with kindness and affection make him understand what was wrong in his movement so that he will not repeat it, but never scold him; a fault confessed must always be forgiven.

You should not allow any fear to come between you and your child; fear is a pernicious means of education: it invariably gives birth to deceit and lying. Only a discerning affection that is firm yet gentle and an adequate practical knowledge will create the bonds of trust that are indispensable for you to be able to educate your child effectively. (p. 11)

Fear is the worst instrument of education and the surest way of attracting what is feared. (p.14)

On freedom to children

According to what I see and know, as a general rule, children over 14 should be allowed their independence and should be given advice only if and when they ask for it. They should know that they are responsible for managing their own existence.

The freedom of which I speak is the freedom to follow the soul’s will and not that of mental and vital whims and fancies.

The freedom of which I speak is an austere truth which tends to surmount all the weaknesses and desires of the lower, ignorant being.

The freedom of which I speak is the freedom to consecrate oneself entirely and without reserve to one’s highest, noblest and most divine aspiration.

Who amongst you follows sincerely that path? It is easy to judge, but it is more difficult to understand and still much more difficult to realise. (p. 391)

On discipline

Discipline is indispensable to physical life. The proper functioning of the organs is based on a discipline. It is precisely when an organ or a part of the body does not obey the general discipline of the body that one falls ill.

Discipline is indispensable to progress. It is only when one imposes a rigorous and enlightened discipline on oneself that one can be free from the discipline of others. (p. 381)

When one has decided and accepted to do something, it must be done as well as one can.
Everything can be an occasion to progress in consciousness and self-mastery. And this striving to progress immediately renders the thing, no matter what it is, interesting. (p. 394)

To discipline one’s life is not easy, even for those who are strong, severe with themselves, courageous and enduring. But before trying to discipline one’s whole life, one must at least try to discipline one activity, and persist until one succeeds. (p. 394)

On getting rid of laziness among children

Laziness comes from weakness, or from lack of interest. For curing the first—one must become strong. For curing the second—one must do something interesting (p. 136)

On children who are talkative and turbulent

The only effective thing is to create or awaken in them a real interest in study, the need to learn and to know, to awaken their mental curiosity. (p. 333)

On turbulent children’s nature

Vital forces, especially in children whose reason is not very well developed, fight desperately before accepting the light and allowing themselves to be converted by it. But success is certain in the end, and we must know how to endure and wait. (MCW, Vol. 12, pp. 338)

A practical method to silence the children

Be completely silent yourself.

Bring a piece of cardboard with you, about one metre long, on which you write in very big letters, black on white, SILENCE (much bigger than that) and as soon as the students start talking, put the cardboard in front of you. (p. 196)

On how to categorize the children

By watching them live.

To be able to classify the children one must find out about their nature by observing their habits and reactions.

The teacher must not be a machine for reciting lessons, he must be a psychologist and an observer. (p. 370)

On “perseverance” of the teachers where work with the children is concerned

...it is always preferable to continue quietly with what one is doing until an inner psychological change brings about the outer change smoothly.

This is what I call persevering.

Young children are not very sensitive to a mental power that is not clothed with vital power. And in order to have vital power you yourself must be perfectly calm. (p. 334)

If your calm is integral, that is, both inner and outer, founded on the perception of the Divine Presence, and unchanging, that is to say, constant and unvarying in all circumstances, it will undoubtedly be all-powerful, and the children will necessarily be influenced by it and the class will certainly become, spontaneously and almost automatically, what you want it to be. (p. 336)

A moment of silence and concentration is always good for all the children. But the prayer should not be compulsory. Those who want to do it will be encouraged. (p. 332)

On true attitude of the teacher

The psychic inspiration alone is true. All that comes from the vital and the mind is necessarily mixed with egoism and is arbitrary.

One should not act in reaction to outer contact, but with an immutable vision of love and goodwill. Everything else is a mixture which can only have confused and mixed results, and perpetuate the disorder.

The attitude of the teacher must be one of a constant will to progress, not only in order to know always better what he wants to teach the students, but above all in order to be a living example to show them what they can become.

(After five minutes’ meditation)

The teacher should be the living example of what he asks the students to become. (pp. 370-371)

On the qualities that an instructor or a teacher should possess

Never scold [the children]. Always understand, and if the child is ready, explain; if he is not ready for an explanation—if you are ready yourself—replace the false vibration by a true one. But this... this is to demand from the teachers a perfection which they rarely have. (p. 405)

On the capacities that a teacher should possess

…He must have a power of psychological discernment in dealing with the students, he must understand his students and what they are capable of doing.

Naturally, he must know the subject he is teaching. If he is teaching French, he must know French. If he is teaching English, Geography, Science, he must know what he is teaching.
But the most important thing is that he must have psychological discernment. (p. 377)
On uniformity and unity

It is not through uniformity that you obtain unity. It is not through uniformity of programmes and methods that you will obtain the unity of education. Unity is obtained through a constant reference, silent or expressed, as the case demands, to the central ideal, the central force or light, the purpose and the goal of our education.

The true, the supreme Unity expresses itself in diversity. It is mental logic that demands sameness. In practice, each one must find and apply his own method, that which he understands and feels. It is only in this way that education can be effective. (p. 177)
On the conduct of the teacher

The teacher should always be punctual and come to the class a few minutes before it begins, always properly dressed.

And above all, so that his students should never lie, he must never lie himself; so that his students should never lose their tempers, he should never lose his temper with them; and to have the right to say to them, “Rough play often ends in tears”, he should never raise his hand against any of them. These are elementary and preliminary things which ought to be practised in all schools without exception. (p. 193)

...as a general and absolute rule, the teachers and especially the physical education instructors must be a constant living example of the qualities demanded from the students; discipline, regularity, good manners, courage, endurance, patience in effort are taught much more by example than by words. And as an absolute rule: never to do in front of a child what you forbid him to do. For the rest, each case implies its own solution, and one must act with tact and discernment. That is why to be a teacher or an instructor is the best of all disciplines, if one knows how to comply with it. (pp. 361-362)

On rules of conduct that are indispensible

Patience, perseverance, generosity, broad-mindedness, insight, calm and understanding firmness, and control over the ego until it is completely mastered or even abolished.
If you truly want peace and happiness, your constant preoccupation should be: “What progress must I make to be able to know and serve the Divine. (p. 383)

For teachers of infant classes

One rule which must be rigorously applied:

It is absolutely forbidden to hit the children—all blows are forbidden, even the slightest little slap or the so-called friendly punch. To give a blow to a child because he does not obey or does not understand or because he is disturbing the others indicates a lack of self-control, and it is harmful for both teacher and student.

Disciplinary measures may be taken if necessary, but in complete calm and not because of a personal reaction. (p. 192)

A fruitful statement to be repeated by each student several times a day

It is not for our family, it is not to secure a good position, it is not to earn money, it is not to obtain a diploma that we study.

We study to learn, to know, to understand the world, and for the sake of the joy that it gives us. (p. 200)

PERSONALITY TRAITS OF A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER

1. Complete self-control not only to the extent of not showing any anger, but remaining absolutely quiet and undisturbed under all circumstances.

2. In the matter of self-confidence, must also have a sense of the relativity of his importance.

Above all, must have the knowledge that the teacher himself must always progress if he wants his students to progress, must not remain satisfied either with what he is or with what he knows.

3. Must not have any sense of essential superiority over his students nor preference or attachment whatsoever for one or another.

4. Must know that all are equal spiritually and instead of mere tolerance must have a global comprehension or understanding.

5. “The business of both parent and teacher is to enable and to help the child to educate himself, to develop his own intellectual, moral, aesthetic and practical capacities and to grow freely as an organic being, not to be kneaded and pressured into form like an inert plastic material.” (Sri Aurobindo, The Human cycle) (p. 167)