Educational Ethos –
All children have differing gifts and so there is no single
way to help them achieve their best. Children vary in many
ways, in the choice of what they want to excel in, how they
learn, and how they relate to others around them. Applying
this in practice means that we need to create a classroom
that meets the needs of each child.
We ask. Is individual attention being paid
each student amongst many – to observe carefully how they
explore the world, to engage them through questioning and
to look at the world through their eyes? This is what we
encourage our teachers to do in every class they teach.
The Gandhian Philosophy of imparting education forms our
guiding principles and shapes all of our teaching practice.
The First Principle of ‘True Teaching’
is that ‘NOTHING CAN BE TAUGHT’.
The Teacher is not an instructor or a Task Master – they
are a helper and a guide. Their business in teaching is
to suggest and guide, it is not to impose. A teacher does
not ‘train’ a pupils mind; they act as a facilitator in
the process of a students continueing development and learning.
The Second Principle of ‘True Teaching’ is that the MIND
has to be consulted in its own growth.
There can be no greater harm done to a child than for us
to decide in advance that a student shall develop particular
qualities, capacities, ideas, virtues or be prepared for
a pre-arranged career. The student needs to be an active
participant in their own growth and development.
The Third Principle of ‘True Teaching’ is to work from -
the near to the far, from that which is to that which is
to be.
If anything has to be brought in from outside it must be
offered and not forced on the students mind. A free and
natural growth is a condition of genuine development. Without
meaning learning has no purpose. The learning and developmental
experiences must be appropriate to the students current
level of understanding.
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