Integral Education: A Contemplative, Transformative and Transpersonal Approach

Everyone has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use. – Sri Aurobindo

Need for Integral Education

Critically speaking, the world seems to be in a state of crisis! The child is born in a society which is defined by complexities and conflicts in every sphere of life – kinfolks, politics, business, religion, caste & class, etc. From this disappointing stance, education seems to be a promising redeemer which asserts holistic development of the children through experiential learning. However, it is dismaying that the current scenario of the education system appears to emulate an industrial mindset. Knowingly or unknowingly, many educational institutions and educators perpetuate practices of conformity, orthodoxy, disempowerment, oppression, and life alienating thought forms. In order to empower and liberate the minds of the children and facilitate a democratic society, a prudent educational design based on the ideals of self-determination, open mindedness, equality, freedom, and justice is requisite.

What is Integral Education?

In the teachings on education by Sri Aurobindo and Mother, Integral Education or Free Progress System emerges out as a viable solution to the concerns of contemporary educational system. Sri Aurobindo focused on the transformation and divinization of the child in a manner where the ignorance and suffering of human beings are transformed into an infinite existence of mind, life and body that is inwardly united with Divine and outwardly expressed as a holistic self. Mother believed that complete education can never be achieved through academic excellence alone. It should encompass five fundamental aspects of human being - the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic, and the spiritual.

Integral Education proliferates that each child is a soul in the journey of evolution and already has the knowledge. Moving away from mere information and skills acquisition, it emphasizes on the self-development of the child triggered from within and further nurtured by teachers and parents. The basic aim is to facilitate the child on becoming the ‘whole’ or ‘integrated’ being that he is meant to be by integrating surroundings, society, country and humanity with his true self.

Sri Aurobindo outlines the three principles of education that can preside over all true learning. The following three principles are assisted by 2 processes of nature which are, insatiable curiosity, and spontaneous imitation & hero worship. 

1.     Nothing can be taught: Since each child is a soul in evolution, the proper role of an educator is not to impart knowledge but to guide the students in acquiring knowledge for themselves. The true knowledge comes from within and can’t be obtained from acquiring outside information. However, the provision of external resources along with an enriching and stimulating environment helps to awaken the individual to his/her latent potentialities.

2.     Consult the mind in its growth: Every child has a unique dharma, a Divine given duty and talent, and it is the educator’s responsibility to help the students identify these innate abilities, predispositions and interests, and to further cultivate them. Educators must not impose any arbitrary set of ideas, knowledge, qualities or capacities determined by others as it deflects them from their natural developmental trajectory and estrange them from their souls leading them in wrong directions.

3.     From the near to the far: The child must be taught in a way where the knowledge grows from the senses to more abstract faculties. Individual must be guided from what is already known, accomplished and established to the outer extensions that are within the reach but are yet unrealized and undeveloped.

Progressive Pedagogical Principles

Though the possibilities for the enrichment of the educational process through the creative application of integral principles are endless, following are some progressive pedagogical guidelines which can enhance the teaching and learning process.

·  Acknowledge Multiple Intelligences: The internal source of reality is the Psychic Being whose external focal point is the idiosyncratic Intellect. Depending upon the diverse learning styles and varying strength of mental faculties, each student has their own path to learning. All intelligence must be acknowledged and nurtured as it is essentially one. Development of one intelligence possibly assist in the development of the other forms of intelligence.

·   Individuality and Human Potential: Each child is unique and has something different to offer to the classroom and the world. Treat and respect each one of them as unique individuals. Adopt a personalized approach tailored specifically according to their needs and talents. Encourage the child to progress at his/her pace without any comparison or competition. Educators can design some exercises which could take the form of extra challenges, special creative exercises, extra classes or programs that suit their needs.

·   Involvement of Children: Educators must actively involve children as imperative contributors in their journey of self-development. More freedom, choice and power should be placed with the students in terms of what and how they want to learn. Educators must attempt to relinquish the role of “sages on the stage” to become “guides on the side”.

·  Friendly Atmosphere and Ethical Classroom: Holistic development of children can be exquisitely undertaken by nourishing them in a non-threatening, serene and natural environment. Classroom is the learning laboratory for life and hence must encourage compassion, sensitivity, care, respect, dialog, self-discipline. It should model community building and quality relationships. 

·   Self-evaluation as a Pathway for Lifelong Learning: Emphasize on cultivating introspection and self-reflection in students so that they become conscious and aware of their cognitive faculties, and understand values at a deeper level. This will initiate a lifelong learning process as skills like innovation, expertise, wisdom and leadership develop and deepen over adult years.

·  Meta-learning: Encourage children to “learn how to learn”, “think about thinking” (metacognition), and understand the nature and limits of knowing (epistemology). Education should fortify the learner’s ability to monitor, reflect and choose the appropriate problem solving strategies for paramount outcomes.

·   Awakening creativity: In today’s complex modern world, success requires creativity which includes considering multiple perspectives, hypotheses, or alternate solutions and not pledging rigidly and swiftly to any single way. Students must be encouraged to bracket their logical minds and open to other forms of intelligence as and when required.

·   Culturing of Emotional Wisdom: Mother emphasized on education of the ‘vital’ and suggested that it should commence at an early age. In addition to teaching children to observe their own impulses, reactions, desires and their causes; observing others, accurately interpreting others’ feelings and influencing others’ emotions through one’s own emotions are fundamental to one’s emotional wisdom. Educators must introduce their learners to the rich legacy of human emotions that are exhibited in poetry, music, art and literature.

·  Sensitize with Music: Music is not only one of the joys of life but can also be one of the joys of learning! With the effective use of music, educators can create a desired atmosphere and establish a positive learning state in order to accentuate learning activities. Music facilitates a multisensory learning experience that can enhance attention, memory, and imagination, develop rapport, align groups, and inspire students.

·  From ‘concrete’ to ‘abstract’: Till the age of around twelve, the child’s mind is hardly open to any abstract notions, ideas and concepts. Educators can still teach them using concrete images, symbols and fables. A narrative, story, enactment of situations, introspection, collective games etc. can be more impactful than any number of theoretical explanations.

·  Pedagogy for Authentic Learning: Most authentic learning happens in social contexts, and often through peer tutoring, apprenticeship or mentoring relationships, and collaborative learning. Encourage learning by doing, case based learning, situated learning, discovery learning and inquiry learning. Learning inspired from curiosity and personal engagement is far superior and in depth than rote memorization.

Educators following the integral pedagogy make a conscious effort to balance the inner realities (visions, feelings, values, motivations, relationships) and the outer realities (action, measurement, physical health, infrastructure etc.) of their learners. They give themselves as much freedom to develop as they give to their learners.

Conclusion

The integral approach to education addresses many aspects of being a human including spiritual growth, flowering of human potential and evolution of the meaning-making capacity. The thoughtful, introspective and transformative learning experiences tend to shape the learners into responsible and sensitive global citizens. 

This article is published in EducationMatters@ETMA, March 2015 issue.

Go to the link for the e magazine: www.etma-india.in.

Innovations in an Inclusive classroom: Moving away from traditional approach

My experience of working as a pupil teacher in one of the private schools of North Delhi helped me develop a perspective regarding the much hyped ‘Inclusive Education’. I taught Psychology at the senior secondary level and social science at secondary level. The 9^th standard classroom was typically an inclusive one where students from diverse geographical and linguistic backgrounds, and with hearing disability were enrolled. On my first day of teaching practice, I was aghast to see the insensitive and inconsiderate attitude of their peers towards them. The peers used to call them names, bullied them, considered them as ‘different’ and alienated them. This made me reflect upon the effectiveness of the inclusive model. Does the inclusive model genuinely serve its purpose? Does it incorporate the deeper concerns like recognizing the individuality of each student and celebrating their diversity in addition to giving them a common platform? This article purely depicts the ways I adopted to struggle with my trepidations regarding inclusive education.

What is Inclusion?

Philosophically speaking, inclusion is a paradigmatic shift from segregation through mainstreaming and integration to inclusion. Inclusive education seeks to address the needs of everyone, including children, youth and adults with a special emphasis on those who are vulnerable to marginalization. It not only means to include children with disability but also those with diverse abilities and backgrounds like geographical location, language, socioeconomic status, caste, gender, ethnicity, color etc. The major issue underlying inclusion is the acceptance of diversity, and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within an individual.

The inclusive approach suggested by the Salamanca Statement and Framework of Action (UNESCO, 1994), NCF (2005) and RTE (2009) ensures the right to education for all, regardless of individual differences. There is an effort to modify the teaching learning process in accordance with the individual needs, their personal learning styles, and environmental consequences of the learners in order to enrich their lives and draw out the full potential of every individual. However, the problem lies in the gaping chasm between the suggested measures and their implementation. Introducing innovative methods in the classroom can not only bridge the gap but also address the inadequacies of the conventional system of education. However, before employing innovations, it is fundamental for the school and teachers to realize that inclusion is not a compulsive burden which they have to abide by but the right of every child.

Preparing teachers for Inclusion  

“It is only when the mind is free from the old that it meets everything anew, and in that there is joy.” ― Jiddu Krishnamurti

Teachers must psychologically free themselves from the traditional ways of education which implied a one way flow of information from the “know-it-all” teachers to the “know-nothing-at-all” students, and make a shift towards an interactive teaching learning process where the teacher and the learners collaboratively construct knowledge. Inclusion is a challenge for the teachers as it demands personalized pedagogical approaches in order to address the varying needs of all the learners in a classroom. However, with innovative classroom modifications, patience and sensitivity a teacher can successfully engage all the leaners and give them a sense of meaningful existence in the classroom.

Sensitize the Peer Group: The peer group must be sensitized about the varied needs as well as the strengths of their classmates in order to develop an amiable and trustworthy relationship. They must be aware about the facts and myths surrounding special needs in order to develop empathy and compassionate thinking.

Create a Conducive Environment using Humor: There is nothing more contagious than a humorous teacher. Using humor in classroom not only fosters cordial relationship between the teacher and the learners but it also helps the teacher to create a conducive environment for learning and communication by reducing stress and relaxing the learners.

Altering the physical environment: Apart from the psychological wellbeing, appropriate accommodations in the school building and classroom for the children with physical disabilities and manipulation of classroom environment for children with mental impairment is very essential.

Innovative Practices in an Inclusive Classroom

Teachers are making efforts to put the innovative practices to use in the classroom. They recognize the potential of innovation in individualized instruction, exploratory opportunities, collaborative learning, developing social skills, individualized educational plans, and effective classroom management to include all the students in an inclusive classroom. Incorporating innovative practices is also contingent upon the attitudes, beliefs and experiences of the teachers which in turn influence the decisions and actions regarding teaching progresses and change.

Following are some of the innovative practices that I adopted in my classroom:

·       Peer Tutoring and Support: A peer (tutor) of the same status or higher provides assistance to the other peer (tutee) who has difficulty in learning. Apart from a rich educational experience to the tutor, it facilitates the experiences of the school life and enhance a sense of community among the participants.

·       Cooperative group learning: I designed appropriate group tasks and taught process skills to deal with problems. This strategy created a positive interdependence among the learners yet then remain individually accountable for their work. Teacher may provide scaffolding where necessary.

·       Individualized Education Program (IEP): It is an individualized adaptation of the curriculum for the learner who is not able to cope with the regular curriculum. After assessing the student in all the required areas, IEP is tailored according to the educational goals that correspond to the specific needs of the learner.

·       Learning styles: Children learn in diverse ways i.e. visual, auditory, tactile and/or kinesthetic, abstract conceptualization and/or concrete experience. Therefore, it was a challenge to assess the learning styles of the learners and choose the method which best fits each student’s learning style.

·       Make appropriate use of Context: I included contextual examples in the classroom to create an appreciation for diversity. For instance while teaching geography, a student from a different geographical location was asked to describe the weather and soil of his/her native place, thus fostering an acceptance of diversity. 

·       Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Incorporating multimedia in education leads to better learning as students use multisensory modalities for receiving, processing and retention of information. ICT creates an adaptable and effective learning environment in an inclusive setup especially for learners with visual/hearing impairment and learning disabilities.

·       Other Strategies: Various other learning strategies were used including semantic mapping, cognitive strategy instructions, storytelling/drama, discussion webs, key word picture, alternative algorithm, scaffolding, analogy, acronym, music etc.

It is essential for the teacher to regularly assess the learners and provide explicit and timely feedback. Informing learners about their progress helps them identify areas of improvisation and enhance their performance.

 

Conclusion

The identity of inclusive education would be reduced to paper if we as teachers don’t intervene to end all forms of discrimination and foster social cohesion. We must realize the crucial role we can play for the welfare and sustained improvement in the quality of life of the children with special needs. Nothing gives more satisfaction than nurturing your learners in a way where they develop individual strengths and realize their maximum potential.

This is published in EducationMatters@ETMA in its September 2014 issue. You can also log on to www.etma-india.in for the e-magazine.