Education for Life
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Why Education for Life

by Maria Dominguez

I worked for 20 years in Waldorf education, a rich and profound educational system that nurtures many aspects of the human being through a wide range of activities, skills and tools. This breadth allows children to find emotional security and self-esteem as the system brings out each individual’s gifts. The school I used to work in is a place where children learn with joy, curiosity and a desire to discover more…I have nothing but good to say, and I’m grateful for this important experience. However, as the years went by, observing children, families, society and the times we live in, I began to wonder if what I was doing was enough; despite all the good experiences, something was missing, and I began to wonder what education really is.

With the birth of my son, this question became urgent. As a teacher, I could see how students from other schools were demoralized and mistreated. And experience tells you that to make a child thrive again, you must, first of all, restore his self-esteem, confidence, and joy. And then, as if by magic, the child begins to learn and achieve previously unattainable goals.

As an adult, I know you remember only a few things about school: the good teachers because they opened windows to the outside world; you remember the good times of laughter and friendship. And then, beyond the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, you remember some of the things you learned because they were conveyed to you in a way that touched your heart.

As a person of a certain age, I have seen the lives of some of the people around me, and I know that economic or social success does not make us happier. So if a school does not fulfil the task of educating us, if our career, economic or social success does not fulfil us, if joy and self-esteem are so important for the complete development of a child, what should I focus on? What is the point of going to school? What is the most important thing I can give my child? And I realized that for me, the most important thing has to do with our quality as human beings. But can a school provide that? To answer this, it is essential to contextualize the moment we are living and to understand the meaning of what we are doing. The world has changed a lot since the first schools were founded. We live in an age where the availability of information is instantaneous and accessible to everyone. Where many of the jobs that exist today will no longer exist tomorrow, so many teachings need to be updated. Therefore, I believe in a school that teaches flexibility to cope with change, provides tools to solve different situations, and teaches how to stay focused in a rapidly changing world. We live in a society whose morals are increasingly poor, where children have difficulty finding healthy references to emulate, and where young people are increasingly lost; I am looking for a school where goodness, respect, loyalty, gratitude, kindness and joy… are a daily experience, offering solid references that always work, regardless of external circumstances.

In an educational system where the acquisition of knowledge is the result of pressure, I am looking for a school where teachers teach with enthusiasm so that learning is a motivating experience that keeps curiosity alive and makes us want to know and learn more. I want a school that promotes culture, not education. Finally, in a life that is not easy to understand and live, I want my child to have the tools to know himself and be comfortable with himself and others. Because, in the end, that is what makes the difference on a daily basis, regardless of the circumstances.

One day, while watching a documentary, I discovered that everything I was looking for, and much more, was there. It was a direct hit to the heart. It was about an Education for Life school. The impact was so strong that my family and I moved to Italy to learn about this method of education at the Education for Life School in Perugia. Education for Life gave me direction as a mother, teacher, and human being; it shaped my feelings. I spent many months in the classrooms, experiencing its principles first-hand. I carry with me the immense gift of seeing the personal work done with children, how they work on values and self-knowledge depending on their age.

My six-year-old son already knows things that took me a lifetime to learn! Of course, he will have his challenges, but I am giving him the best possible tools to deal with them. How many years have I spent studying books of dead concepts teaching nothing? In Education for Life, I have seen the art of teaching, where knowledge becomes tangible and connected to real life; where values accompany knowledge, and the teacher both teaches and trains; where learning becomes something so fluid and natural that it is easy and fun; where what is learned is not forgotten because it is related to life itself and known from the heart; where culture makes its way because teaching goes beyond the book and constantly opens worlds. All this and much more I carry with me, now all I have to do is to continue to share what I have learned because this is the education that the world needs, that new generations need. Education for Life is, for me, the education of the future, the education of the true human being.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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Education for Life

Little Angels Ashram

 

We’re happy to share an exciting new direction for Education for Life’s service here in India. We’ve recently made a connection with a small orphanage called the Little Angels Ashram in a village called Madh, a short boat ride from Mumbai city.

The Ashram supports about 50 children, from age 3 through 20, providing food, shelter, and most importantly, a true sense of home. It is run by a wonderful family, who has managed it for three generations. Pratik, one of core members of the staff, was himself raised there by his grandmother, who founded the orphanage. There is a strong feeling of love present in the place, reflected clearly in the childrens’ joyful faces. In EFL terms, we all have seen that they have “light in their eyes.”
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Their foundational physical needs are being met, but one area where they could use more support is education. The children attend the local government school, and there is a volunteer who comes after school to help them with their work. But we see that these children have immense potential, and there is much that EFL could do to support them in realizing it.

We plan to start offering classes and study support after school, especially in English, but also math, science, and anything else needed. After the children have become comfortable with us, we will begin to share our approach to life skills, like courage, even-mindedness, and truth.

What we teach will of course be secondary to the fostering of deep connection, through which true, magnetic education takes place. As such, our volunteers will have the opportunity to be trained in EFL, and put it directly into practice with the children at the Ashram.

In the future, we look forward to being able to provide much more. Please include the project in your thoughts and prayers, that Education for Life is able to touch and uplift the lives of these Little Angels.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can write to me here:  aryavan@edforlife.org.

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Education for Life
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License

  •  Requirements for Licensing an Education for Life School

    The school mission statement must be approved by the EFL International Board of Directors. In addition, the school must receive positive reports at three to five year intervals from onsite visiting teams selected by EFL International verifying that the school’s administrators and teachers are implementing the EFL philosophy to the best of their abilities.

    Teachers must be EFL certified or working towards certification through participation in EFL Teacher Development classes. The final EFL Teacher Credential will be awarded after the teacher has demonstrated the ability to implement EFL techniques in the classroom for at least a year. This award is made in collaboration between the school director and EFL International.

    The school shall maintain an ongoing relationship with EFL International through annual participation in at least two of the following:

    1. Attendance at an EFL conference
    2. Teacher/Administrator visits to another EFL School for observation, consultation, and/or collaboration
    3. Advanced EFL Teacher Training/In-service and/or Parent Classes taught by an EFL mentor

    The school shall pay EFL International an annual fee of $1,000 if 50 or more students are enrolled, or $20/student if attendance is lower than 50.

Next Steps:

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Education for Life
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What Does “Spiritual Education” Mean?

Preparing children to meet life's challenges

by J.Donald Walters
The first public service that Paramhansa Yogananda undertook after he became a swami was to found a school for young boys. Starting in 1916 in the village of Dihika, Bengal with only seven students, he was “determined to found a school where young boys could develop to the full stature of manhood.” A year later he moved the school to Ranchi and founded the Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidyalaya which is still in existence today. Almost sixty years later, in 1972, at Ananda Village, the first Ananda school was founded, based on the ideals and directions that Yogananda laid out about education. Starting also with only seven students, the original Ananda School now has a campus of seven classrooms with ninety students, plus branch schools in Palo Alto, Portland, and Seattle. The following article is from a talk that J.Donald Walters gave in which he discusses the Education for Life system used in the Ananda Schools.

What I’ve tried to do in my life is to take Yogananda’s central teachings and apply them to many fields of life – business, the arts, relationships, raising families, schools, communities, and so on. The education of children was very dear to Yogananda’s heart, but what he actually said about it was very little. Through the years, we have taken what he has given us, meditated on it, and applied our understanding in the Ananda School classrooms in order to deepen our insights and attunement to Yogananda’s vision for spiritual education.

The purpose of spiritual education is to fulfill the divine potential of children, and to prepare them for life by giving them the tools they need to keep on learning throughout the many experiences that will come to them.At Ananda we are trying to develop a system calledEducation for Life, something which is very much needed in society today. The reason for so many of the problems in our world is that we’re giving children what Yogananda called an essentially atheistic view of life. When we rigorously exclude all spiritual teachings and higher values, our children end up getting the message that there aren’t any higher values, and that there isn’t even a God. Children have a natural longing for values and ideals, but our society gives them a universe and a life in which they have no faith. The cynical teachings of modern education are so ego-oriented, and so money and job-oriented that when children grow up cynical and angry at the universe, it’s hardly something to be surprised at. It’s the fault of our society that allows that kind of thing to happen.

When we speak of spiritual education, we don’t mean a church kind of education. What we mean is to help children understand that they’re going to be a lot happier if they are kind to others, and if they work for high ideals. The child who has a little bag of dates and eats them all himself isn’t nearly so happy as the child who shares those dates with others. In all cases, we can see that people who are selfish just aren’t happy, and people who are selfless are happy. They can apply this understanding not only at school, but also at home and everywhere in life. If we can bring this kind of teaching to children, this then is spiritual education.

Another purpose of spiritual education is to build the person on all levels. We are triune beings composed of body, mind, and soul, and if any part of us is starved at the expense of the others, then we aren’t complete. It’s an interesting fact that people who write, as an example of a mental activity, will very often also do something physical to keep themselves grounded. When Yogananda first had an experience of cosmic consciousness, his guru, Sri Yukteswar, handed him a broom, saying, “Let us sweep the porch.” We have to learn to keep these worlds in harmony with one another. If we let one go in favor of the other, in some way we become unbalanced.

Young girl smiling at Living Wisdom School, Palo Alto, California

An education that ignores individual differences and tries to run children through an assembly line is bound to produce shoddy results. An education that is deep, enduring, and effective must be highly individualized.

In the education of our children, we need to help them develop their characters and their minds, but we must also help them prepare for living successfully in this world. We don’t want them to go out into society and find themselves incapable of relating to what’s going on. They have to have the facts that are a part of our modern upbringing. But they don’t need to have those facts taught to them in such a way as to leave them believing that there’s no value in anything. There is a great deal of emphasis on the wrong things today. The basis of spiritual education is to prepare them for society in a way that will help them to remain idealistic.

Suppose you have children who have learned how to love everyone, who have learned the goodness of life. When they go out into the world they may face hatred, criminal activity, and many other negative things. Will they be able to handle it? This is probably the primary concern that people have with spiritual education. The answer is to be seen in those who live with love. It isn’t as if they become stupid or lose the ability to relate to the world as it is. In fact, the broadest understanding comes from that which is centered in love; the narrowest understanding is that which is centered in hatred. If you’re on the lowest level, you can relate only to the lowest level; if you’re on the highest level, you can relate to all levels. To see that this is true, we can point to examples of people who live that way and who are able to handle life’s many challenges far, far better. I have observed that people who are complete as human beings are generally more successful. A spiritual education can actually guarantee greater success even in the way worldly people define it.

A good example is Yogananda’s most advanced disciple, Rajarsi Janakananda. He was the chairman of several large companies and owned several others. He had the clarity, calmness, and centeredness to be able to pull back from all the stress and excitement and see the way to resolve difficult issues. The secret of his success was the fact that his consciousness was rooted in God, and in the desire for right action.

Children are born with different inclinations, with different strengths, weaknesses, and educational needs. One of the unfortunate aspects of modern education is the assembly-line approach to teaching where the same information is more or less dumped out to everyone. There isn’t any philosophy; it is just information. Small classes, where the teacher can get to know each child personally, are essential for giving individual attention and for discovering what the natural level of understanding is for each child.

Rajarsi Janakananda, chief disciple of Paramhansa YoganandaParamhansa Yogananda’s chief disciple was James J. Lynn, a self-made American businessman who said he was able to accomplish in an hour what would take others many hours, thanks to his mastery of meditation methods such as those taught at Living Wisdom School. By teaching children kindness, concentration, will power, strength of character, truthfulness, and other higher qualities, life is made richer. These are deeply important to the development of the human being, but such things are not taught today in public education. The ultimate purpose of life is not simply to get a job. So many people live this way and then die, not of old age but of deep disappointment with the life they have led. If you don’t know how to be truly happy, money won’t buy it for you.

Spiritual education is training people for life. How many people get married, and then get divorced because they don’t know how to get along with their spouse? They’re not educated for that. nor for life.

Education, rightly understood, is expansion of awareness. It is preparation for that process of real learning which takes place after we leave school, when we are in the constant struggle, the battlefield of life. By giving children the tools and understanding to make the right choices in life, we can lead them to lasting happiness. Then they will be able to achieve the kind of spiritual victories that are the true meaning of success.

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