Admission Enquiry
The third principle of education is to ‘work from the near to far’, from that which is to that which shall be. The basis of a man’s nature is almost always, in addition to his soul’s past, his heredity, his surroundings, his nationality, his country, the soil from which he draws his sustenance, the air which he breathes, the sights, sounds, habits to which he is accustomed. They mould him not the less powerfully because insensibly, and from that we must begin…. If anything has to be brought in from outside, it must be offered, not forced on the mind."
—Sri Aurobindo
The First Training Camp in Puducherry
Sri Aurobindo Society organised a 2-Day Exposure Camp of Integral Education to a group of seven representatives from Kailash School of Excellence, Namakkal, at the premises of Sri Aurobindo Society and the Ashram, on 2nd and 3rd July. 2022. Shivakumar and Priti of SAFIER introduced the very basics of Integral education, after the group had a thorough look at the current educational system. The group visited the pre-primary, primary and secondary section of SAICE and the playground and sportsground too as an additional exposure to the implementation of Integral Education.
Day 1 started with Mrs Arthy Lakshmi, the Director of the school, introducing her team to the SAFIER team of Shivakumar and Priti and vice-versa. Then Director gave a brief PowerPoint presentation unveiling the diverse activities of the Kailash School of Excellence which was the first CBSE School in the Namakkal region of Tamil Nadu established in the year 2000. Later, the group of seven people visited the Kindergarten and main school of SAICE where they got a short introduction of the implementation of integral education at the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels in the Ashram school from Amala and Gaytri Didi. In the afternoon, Shivakumar gave a brief introduction to Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) & its educational work.
This was followed by an open discussion with the participants by Shivkumar and Priti as a lot of curiosity had developed in the participants minds as regards Integral Education and its implementation. The day ended with a brief overview by Priti with reference to the need of Integral Education and its true definition: ‘A Soul Guided Education’. Shivakumar Introduced the resource materials such as the book ‘On Education’ and ‘How to grow up a child’ as a must read to kick start the journey of IE.
Day 2 started with a visit to the Playground in the morning and the Sports ground in the evening, where Rajkumar-da introduced the team to the approach to Physical Education in the ashram and the school and its importance. This was followed by a deeper discussion by Shivakumar where he initiated a re-look at the prevalent education system and its fallout. The interaction led to a point where what truly has to be developed in the children was initiated; and that is the faculties like concentration, emotional stability etc, which would help the children become independent learners and good students. This would be well taken in by the parent community too.
The workshop wrapped up with a discussion on how to take the process of education at the KSE School forward. Mrs Arthy Lakshmi, the Director of the school, was keen to make some adaptations in the school and go for intensive teacher training workshops to help the school make a step in the transition towards becoming integral education-based schools. She was also keen to start a free progress stream for which she would reflect on the subject a little more deeply. It was decided that a further plan and a course of action will be discussed in the future, as per the needs of the group. The group was extremely grateful for such a life-changing experience and exposure to Integral Education.
Education to be complete must have five principal aspects corresponding to the five principal activities of the human being: the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual. Usually, these phases of education succeed each other in a chronological order following the growth of the individual; this, however, does not mean that the one should replace the other but that all must continue, completing one another, till the end of his life.
—The Mother
The Second Training Camp in Puducherry:
Kailash School of Excellence, established in the year of 2000, is an aspiring institute spread over 3 acres of land in Namakkal. Shivakumar and Priti from SAFIER—the Integral Education wing of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry—visited the school in August 2022 and gave a glimpse into the approach of Integral Education (IE) through awareness games and art activities. This interaction developed into a joyful collaboration – a course on IE spread over a period of 11 months, to introduce, guide and mentor a group of about 10-12 teachers of the school. The phase I of the course began with a 3-day Introductory Workshop at the premises of Sri Aurobindo Society with a group of 6 teachers from the Primary and Pre-Primary section of the school and two representatives from the Management.
Course Facilitators: The Main facilitators of the workshop were Shivakumar and Priti, supported by Sahana, Rathi and Sushanto from SAFIER, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry.
On Day 1, the workshop began with a game where participants introduced themselves by sharing a quality of theirs, expressing it through a movement. This playful yet deep introductory session led by Priti cheered and opened them up for the further journey. Shivakumar then shared the story of IE, starting with a thoughtful and introspective interaction about spirituality. He narrated his own journey of discovering the true meaning of spirituality and then introduced teachers to IE through the story of its founders - Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. This was followed by Priti's session on inspired teaching, where teachers were asked to recall the memory of their most favourite teacher and what qualities inspired them the most, reminding them to look within for the Source of their Inspiration.
After a delicious South Indian meal by Prasadam, participants were taken through a skit by Shivakumar & team reflecting the different parts of oneself and a constant struggle between them and a beautiful potential of a true leader hidden within. Teachers deepened their understanding of different parts of their being by filling up a questionnaire reflecting upon a few everyday activities and through experiencing each part while they engaged in different activities. Priti led participants further into the inner world through a meditative body scan, visiting and quieting all the parts. Participants expressed the inner weather in a visual way through colors and experienced a deep peace within through the session.
Day 2 started early in the morning with a refreshing yoga-asana session by Priti during which the participants explored postures related to nature and the animal world and experienced a new kind of energy flow in their body. The formal sessions began by introducing journaling to help participants observe the day's events, locate the sense of ‘I’ in the most inspired and challenging moments and understand which part of their personality was more dominant in these moments.
Connecting with the inner friend was the main theme of the day where participants were reminded of the pure, silent, wise being in the middle of the chaos created by the physical-vital-mind trio, and IE begins when these parts get connected with the Psychic. Beauty was presented as a gateway for connecting with the inner friend. Participants enjoyed singing together a beautiful song on beauty, translated to Tamil specially for this group, and then chanting mantras with Shiva Kumar to connect with their deeper selves. They were also encouraged to connect with flowers by being like a flower, a session in which they chose and deeply connected with a flower, shared and expressed their joy through a group dance movement.
Post-lunch, they played a few games with Sahana which were designed to create alertness and sustained attention, followed by an activity that involved creating something beautiful as a group, in silence while being in touch with the inner friend. They also made beautiful butterfly-origami with Rathi and were excited to do the activity with the children in their school.
Evening participants were taken to the Maret Garden, where they reflected with Sushanto Da and team on how learning from nature is different from learning from a teacher inside the classroom. They engrossed themselves in the beauty and fragrance of flowers and explored connecting with flowers through their unique vibrations.
The third day also began with yogic exercises aimed at increasing stability and stillness in movement. The participants had a taste of a physical routine with an awareness-based approach and vowed to practise some of the postures when they reached back home! Similarly, formal sessions began with Om chanting and an aspiration for a deeper connection with the Inner Friend. Participants were guided to journal in a deeper way, and shared their insights from the previous day. Shivakumar took the teachers for a walk through the current educational system where they had a critical look at the current educational system, reflecting on how much of their education has been really useful till date.
It was an insightful session where teachers understood that it's high time that they begin to relook at education in a way that truly helped children blossom. They also explored certain coordination games which challenged them and helped them to bring awareness into the body and the possibility of a conscious body making its movements more perfect.
In the afternoon they went through a quick recap of the important quotes that were explored during the workshop. As part of that they read the first few paragraphs from the chapter “Science of Living” by the Mother, starting with the importance of having an aim that is high, wide, generous and disinterested. All the inspired teachers that we have had during our education had such an aim of going beyond being a conventional teacher, and it put them in touch with their Inner Friend and made them inspirational teachers.
Conclusion
The participants were given assignments and the workshop came was concluded with a reflective session on the intense journey of Integral Education that they had embarked upon for the last three days and, holding the learnings and insights in their deepest Inner space, offered it to the ‘Flame of Aspiration’ burning in that deep Inner space, within each one.
Highlights from Participants’ Feedback
“We were strangers, we became a family through love! Let us grow in knowledge - not through words but through acts that we will practise Integral Education….”
Sathya
KG Teacher
“I liked analysing our own experiences of the day the most because it will make me more conscious and a happy woman, happy wife, happy mother, happy teacher.”
V Govarthani
Primary Teacher, English & Computer Science
“Connecting with Nature in Maret garden was very exciting. I haven't seen so many types of flowers before. They were very beautiful!”
S Manimekalai
Teacher
“The Magic Mirror session I liked the most. Content clarity, execution and characterization were awesome. Detailed explanation made me understand the unknown concepts easily.”
P. Jeevanandam
Vice Principal
“The best part of the AZHAGU song was to add our own stanza to it. I’m sure this will be a hit in the classroom where the children’s creativity will be kindled.”
B. Yaagasree
Teacher, Class IV & V
“So helpful yoga-asanas. I felt fresh the entire day. My physical felt very light, active and energetic. It brought my attention towards each and every part of my body.”
K Arthy Lakshmi
The Director
“I understood clearly that students should not be fully pushed into the lesson plans or syllabus pattern. We have to give education that is relevant to them.”