Introduction
Our children are our future. The problem of education and the plight of the world’s children are, therefore, the most urgent concerns confronting humanity today. As Alice Bailey writes in Problems of Humanity, “What we do with them and for them is momentous in its implications. Our responsibility is great, and our opportunity unique”. (p. 32) At our current crossroads, we have the opportunity to integrate the best of our educational processes of the past with those new holistic and spiritual trends which uniquely reflect our evolving humanity.
Today, people are increasingly becoming aware of the fact of the One Humanity and the interconnectedness of all life on our planet. However, we only need to open our daily newspapers to know that much of the human development of the world remains uneven and not reflective of the consciousness of the One Humanity or the interdependent nature of all life on our planet.
Our educators are therefore faced with three major challenges:
1) To provide for the needs of the world’s children and youth, giving them a sense of security and the basics of an education relevant to survival and well-being in their immediate environment;
2) To develop the new education which will enable the youth of the world to fulfil their individual potential and to face life as enlightened world citizens by becoming thinking, integrated, creative, and inclusive men and women; and,
3) To develop world citizens aware of their spiritual heritage and thus capable of inaugurating a new civilisation based on the rich diversity of existing cultures, while recognising the spiritual destiny of the One Humanity.
Education is used in its widest sense, involving not merely schooling, but also home family
relationships and the community environment. In each of these sectors it is apparent that we
are not yet using educational methods which will enable us to live as whole and constructive citizens.
In this study set, education is used in its widest sense, involving not merely schooling, but also home family
relationships and the community environment. In each of these sectors it is apparent that we are not yet using educational methods which will enable us to live as whole and constructive citizens.
In this study we present a general picture, offering suggestions about principles and goals. We briefly mention some of the many positive areas now emerging, as servers in the field of education pioneer initiatives to meet the real and holistic educational needs of children and youth. We make no attempt to indicate specific curricula or state what should be discarded of the old educational methods or what new innovations should now be instituted. This is the task of world educators and the men and women of goodwill within each nation. Thus, specific educational problems, which vary according to a people’s needs and culture, can more thoroughly and wisely be addressed. At the same time, local and cultural needs must be seen and addressed in the context of global needs. In other words, educators, like all others today, need to “act locally, while thinking globally”. Although regional and national differences exist, there are certain educational objectives which are the same for all people, and therefore, it is possible to build towards a universality of education – a universality reflective of the underlying spiritual unity of all people everywhere.
The principles we highlight in this study are being applied in many different ways in different countries to chart the development of educational ideals and methods that can meet the needs of the whole child who will reach adulthood in the 21st century. Enlightened educators everywhere are seeking to pioneer changes in syllabuses and in teaching
methods that will both awaken in the child an awareness that they are part of a global family, and also deepen their understanding of themselves, other cultures and other peoples. These qualities and characteristics can be seen reflected in programs emphasising, for example, education for international understanding, environmental education, development
education, human rights education, peace education, and holistic and global education.
When looked at in their totality, these progressive forms of “new age” education, known under the above mentioned variety of terms and more, have three primary characteristics. They call for the recognition of the whole human being, including his/her ethical, inner or spiritual dimension; they posit the need for students to be aware of the planet as a whole, and they focus on the interconnectedness of all life and the interdependence of all systems. The inner, subjective world of the human being, the outer, tangible/objective environment, and the connecting, interdependent relationships among all must be explored and understood. The inner and the outer dimensions must be recognised as being related, equally divine, and deserving of further understanding and development.
The role of educators is of central importance to this new education. The ageless precept that we teach loudest by example rather than by words is especially applicable to our educators. Because teachers spend so much time with our children and youth, it is imperative that they are, as far as possible, free of prejudice, have a sense of world citizenship, and reflect healthy, constructive attitudes. It is important that teachers are caring and loving and are able to create the right atmosphere in which the child can freely learn and grow. An understanding of psychological principles would also seem to be an imperative so that teachers can more fully realise their roles as educators: helping to lead out of students their highest potential while teaching them to work with and overcome their weaknesses and limitations.
The beginning of the 1990s saw a global tidal wave of enthusiasm and hope about changing attitudes towards children and their rights and needs, particularly in relation to education. This encouraging phenomenon was reflected in the work of the
United Nations, leading to a number of important global events: the World Conference on Education for All, the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the World Summit for Children, the Mid-Decade Conference in Amman, Jordan, the Unesco report of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century, and the World Education Forum 2000, which adopted the Dakar Framework for Action. We look further at some of these events later in this study paper.
The significance of today’s crossroads cannot be underestimated. Much of our way of life which has evolved throughout the past two thousand years of the Piscean age and which is now entrenched in our often unconsciously adopted habits of behaving, feeling and thinking, stands in contradiction to the emerging values and opportunities of the incoming Aquarian age. Whereas the goal of the past was to produce a “thinking” individual, the goal of the future is to produce truly
integrated people who can “think with their hearts and feel with their heads”. Cooperation, compassion, and love–wisdom must take the place of the heretofore predominant and valued qualities of competition, self assertion, and separateness. Although these latter qualities have played their useful part in bringing us to our current point of evolution, priority must now be given to more inclusive and deeper spiritual attitudes and understandings.
Our educational systems must therefore encompass a new vision and goal. The growing recognition that the substance abuse, delinquency, and general unrest, so visible in our contemporary society, stems equally from a material as well as from a spiritual poverty is also leading to a new understanding about what constitutes an adequate educational system. We are recognising that the problem of education is no longer only a matter of creating literacy and conveying a body of factual knowledge. It is also the problem of being able to present the hypothesis of the soul – the interior factor within each human being which produces “the good, the true, and the beautiful”. Creative expression and humanitarian effort will then be recognised as the logical and scientific outcome of specifically applied educational procedures.
Although there are many today who are taking up this dual challenge of improving the plight of children worldwide and improving the field of education, attempting to bridge between the needs of the past and the future, it must be recognised that it is also vital for each of us, individually, to think towards the solution to these problems. An education which enlightens is not meant for only a select few of the world’s people, but for all. The capacity to be educated, and illumined, is found in every human being. Likewise, every individual is in some way an educator – able to invoke and evoke the highest from those with whom he or she comes in contact. While some may be called to the life vocation of teaching, all of us carry the responsibility for right human relations and can share our light and goodwill with others. Each of us can also aid in the construction of positive enlightened thoughtforms, helping to create an enlightened public opinion upon which world leaders can draw. Every loving mind, thinking heart and able hand is needed.
Today, people are increasingly becoming aware of the fact of the One Humanity and the interconnectedness of all life on our planet. However, we only need to open our daily newspapers to know that much of the human development of the world remains uneven and not reflective of the consciousness of the One Humanity or the interdependent nature of all life on our planet.
Our educators are therefore faced with three major challenges:
1) To provide for the needs of the world’s children and youth, giving them a sense of security and the basics of an education relevant to survival and well-being in their immediate environment;
2) To develop the new education which will enable the youth of the world to fulfil their individual potential and to face life as enlightened world citizens by becoming thinking, integrated, creative, and inclusive men and women; and,
3) To develop world citizens aware of their spiritual heritage and thus capable of inaugurating a new civilisation based on the rich diversity of existing cultures, while recognising the spiritual destiny of the One Humanity.
Education is used in its widest sense, involving not merely schooling, but also home family
relationships and the community environment. In each of these sectors it is apparent that we
are not yet using educational methods which will enable us to live as whole and constructive citizens.
In this study set, education is used in its widest sense, involving not merely schooling, but also home family
relationships and the community environment. In each of these sectors it is apparent that we are not yet using educational methods which will enable us to live as whole and constructive citizens.
In this study we present a general picture, offering suggestions about principles and goals. We briefly mention some of the many positive areas now emerging, as servers in the field of education pioneer initiatives to meet the real and holistic educational needs of children and youth. We make no attempt to indicate specific curricula or state what should be discarded of the old educational methods or what new innovations should now be instituted. This is the task of world educators and the men and women of goodwill within each nation. Thus, specific educational problems, which vary according to a people’s needs and culture, can more thoroughly and wisely be addressed. At the same time, local and cultural needs must be seen and addressed in the context of global needs. In other words, educators, like all others today, need to “act locally, while thinking globally”. Although regional and national differences exist, there are certain educational objectives which are the same for all people, and therefore, it is possible to build towards a universality of education – a universality reflective of the underlying spiritual unity of all people everywhere.
The principles we highlight in this study are being applied in many different ways in different countries to chart the development of educational ideals and methods that can meet the needs of the whole child who will reach adulthood in the 21st century. Enlightened educators everywhere are seeking to pioneer changes in syllabuses and in teaching
methods that will both awaken in the child an awareness that they are part of a global family, and also deepen their understanding of themselves, other cultures and other peoples. These qualities and characteristics can be seen reflected in programs emphasising, for example, education for international understanding, environmental education, development
education, human rights education, peace education, and holistic and global education.
When looked at in their totality, these progressive forms of “new age” education, known under the above mentioned variety of terms and more, have three primary characteristics. They call for the recognition of the whole human being, including his/her ethical, inner or spiritual dimension; they posit the need for students to be aware of the planet as a whole, and they focus on the interconnectedness of all life and the interdependence of all systems. The inner, subjective world of the human being, the outer, tangible/objective environment, and the connecting, interdependent relationships among all must be explored and understood. The inner and the outer dimensions must be recognised as being related, equally divine, and deserving of further understanding and development.
The role of educators is of central importance to this new education. The ageless precept that we teach loudest by example rather than by words is especially applicable to our educators. Because teachers spend so much time with our children and youth, it is imperative that they are, as far as possible, free of prejudice, have a sense of world citizenship, and reflect healthy, constructive attitudes. It is important that teachers are caring and loving and are able to create the right atmosphere in which the child can freely learn and grow. An understanding of psychological principles would also seem to be an imperative so that teachers can more fully realise their roles as educators: helping to lead out of students their highest potential while teaching them to work with and overcome their weaknesses and limitations.
The beginning of the 1990s saw a global tidal wave of enthusiasm and hope about changing attitudes towards children and their rights and needs, particularly in relation to education. This encouraging phenomenon was reflected in the work of the
United Nations, leading to a number of important global events: the World Conference on Education for All, the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the World Summit for Children, the Mid-Decade Conference in Amman, Jordan, the Unesco report of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century, and the World Education Forum 2000, which adopted the Dakar Framework for Action. We look further at some of these events later in this study paper.
The significance of today’s crossroads cannot be underestimated. Much of our way of life which has evolved throughout the past two thousand years of the Piscean age and which is now entrenched in our often unconsciously adopted habits of behaving, feeling and thinking, stands in contradiction to the emerging values and opportunities of the incoming Aquarian age. Whereas the goal of the past was to produce a “thinking” individual, the goal of the future is to produce truly
integrated people who can “think with their hearts and feel with their heads”. Cooperation, compassion, and love–wisdom must take the place of the heretofore predominant and valued qualities of competition, self assertion, and separateness. Although these latter qualities have played their useful part in bringing us to our current point of evolution, priority must now be given to more inclusive and deeper spiritual attitudes and understandings.
Our educational systems must therefore encompass a new vision and goal. The growing recognition that the substance abuse, delinquency, and general unrest, so visible in our contemporary society, stems equally from a material as well as from a spiritual poverty is also leading to a new understanding about what constitutes an adequate educational system. We are recognising that the problem of education is no longer only a matter of creating literacy and conveying a body of factual knowledge. It is also the problem of being able to present the hypothesis of the soul – the interior factor within each human being which produces “the good, the true, and the beautiful”. Creative expression and humanitarian effort will then be recognised as the logical and scientific outcome of specifically applied educational procedures.
Although there are many today who are taking up this dual challenge of improving the plight of children worldwide and improving the field of education, attempting to bridge between the needs of the past and the future, it must be recognised that it is also vital for each of us, individually, to think towards the solution to these problems. An education which enlightens is not meant for only a select few of the world’s people, but for all. The capacity to be educated, and illumined, is found in every human being. Likewise, every individual is in some way an educator – able to invoke and evoke the highest from those with whom he or she comes in contact. While some may be called to the life vocation of teaching, all of us carry the responsibility for right human relations and can share our light and goodwill with others. Each of us can also aid in the construction of positive enlightened thoughtforms, helping to create an enlightened public opinion upon which world leaders can draw. Every loving mind, thinking heart and able hand is needed.