Page 40 - NAMAH-Oct-2024

Namah Vol. 32, Issue 3, 15th October 2024

education requires: Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and others
were included in the textbooks for the
1. An inclusive curriculum which focuses on course. Faculty training was carried out
life-centric rather than subject-centric areas through workshops. Specially designed
of learning. Elucidation of the Indian concept question banks were prepared. The
of human beings and true spirituality are questions were categorised into three
necessary right from the commencement of sections: (i) Section 1 contained very basic
any such innovation. questions like, ‘What is the importance
of prayer in life? Give some examples of
2. Practices which emphasise the Inner Self, your own experiences about your Call
so as to help students to become aware of the and the Answer. (ii) Section 2 contained
Peace Within, The Divine Within. questions which would require some
reading of the textbooks. (iii) Section 3
3. Practices based on the inclusion of collaborative contained questions based on in-depth
wisdom of science and Spirituality in areas of study of the textbooks. The question
work. bank also contained some self-learning
activities. It was indeed very gratifying
This requires transformative pedagogic to read the answers of students which
approaches, which extend beyond the included their own expressions about
trans-missional and generative approaches such quintessential components for
on the one hand and deliberate efforts enriching life. Due to changes in the
to break the silos between health and credit system structure, the course could
education interventions on the other. To not be continued for more than two
put it succinctly, any activity which brings years. It is now proposed to introduce the
back the focus on ‘the fourth dimension’, course on online platforms. The textbooks
contributes towards greater inclusion of can be accessed from the website of the
spirituality in mainstream education and university: https://www.spuvvn.edu/
therefore fosters correct synthesis of science academics/academic-chairs/sri-aurobindo-
and spirituality. chair-of-integral-studies/life-enrichment-
course/
Some of the innovative practices carried out
during the last twenty years are as under: • Programme evaluation, impact of the intervention
and recognition:
i. Life Enrichment course
Although not systematically carried out,
• Practice: a short-term credit course, entitled the programme was recognised by the
‘Life-Enrichment Course’, was offered to Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat as a
more than 1,200 postgraduate students in uniquely innovative attempt to add life-
Humanities and Social Sciences across 15 centric education in mainstream education
departments/PG Centres over two years. agenda. The Knowledge Consortium also
Selected writings of Sri Aurobindo, the facilitated live telecast of lectures and
Mother, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma discussions through the Open Classroom.

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