Education is much more than a matter of imparting the knowledge and skills by which narrow goals are achieved. It is also about opening the child’s eyes to the needs and rights of others.

These broader goals can be achieved within the classroom with the environment that is created in the classroom and the school. For this purpose, teacher training and workshops are quite important to constantly build their capacity and care about their well- being. If the teacher has a better understanding of her own emotions and extravagantly plays out her core human inner values, the children are more likely to model the behaviour and be benefitted. After a while both the teacher and the students would together create a caring classroom, and this will lead the child to open his/ her eyes to the needs and rights of others.

 

Curriculum implementation is one way, the other is if the teacher is equipped with the knowledge of Secular Ethics or Universal Values and believes in them. It is quite easy to subtly transfer these qualities to the children. Many other ways to bring Secular Ethics in the classroom is by doing value-based activities and intertwining these universal values with academic subjects. For example, teachings arithmetic by engaging students in team work, stressing the idea of interdependence. If a child makes a mistake, this opportunity can be used to teach the entire class about forgiveness. School projects and picnics can be guided by one particular theme or common inner value. The classroom can also have one Peace corner where each child can go when his/her emotions are troubling the child or if the child has made a mistake or has been unable to follow the rules of the group. These little interventions in class will go a long way in creating a caring classroom, schools and eventually community and nation. But it has to begin with the capacity building of the teachers and administration of educational institutes.

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