SAIIER 2014:Auroville Teacher Training with Partho
 Art and Integral Education |
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 Auroville Rainbow Child |
| Auroville Teacher Training with Partho | ||
Objective
The project aimed to support Auroville teachers by deepening the understanding and practices of integral education. Our objective was to follow on from the very successful Integral Education workshop by Partho in 2010 attended by 28 teachers and out of which a new school, The Learning Community was born. This time we wanted to go deeper into the general subject of integral education with particular reference to faculty development.
Description of project
We organized a teacher training program with Partho. Partho has spent more than twenty years in the field of integral education and has done extensive personal research in Sri Aurobindo’s educational philosophy and practice. He conducts seminars and workshops for teachers, parents and school administrators all over the country.
A 3-day workshop was organised for October 11-13th in the Unity Pavilion by Bridget, Hedia, Jyoti and Martin. We hope to continue with further programs by Partho in collaboration with Auroville teachers and the core team for the development of integral education teacher training in 2014. Partho facilitates an annual week-long retreat for Aurovilians that is also attended by many teachers.
Outcomes
48 teachers from 14 Auroville educational facilities attended the training. There was very positive feedback and calls for the continuation of training with Partho and future collaboration with the development of the ongoing teacher training program. An initial meeting has taken place with the organising team and the IETTP team (Integral Education Teachers Training Program) to begin to frame this future collaboration.
Evaluation
Following are feedback statements from some of the teachers who participated in the workshop.
- “It helped clarify the simple purpose of education as I had never been able to come up with a satisfactory answer. It also gave some insight into the challenges faced by teachers in their progression towards integral education.”
- “There were a lot of fruitful exchanges, and a lot of information has been imparted from Partho's experience. This information is already an AWAKENING PERIOD for the facilitators.”
- “This workshop gave me a lot of joy, enthusiasm, and hope confirming my aspiration for Lilaloka but also in general for the educational system in Auroville.
- “Confirmation, reassurance, reminders but also a lot of new openings, insights or ways to progress towards this new education have been shared through this question-answer format.”
- “It brought me a deepening of many familiar notions and a widening of the practical possibilities.”
- “It was excellent and incredibly inspiring. Reinforced my approach to Art, that how I present the creative process is in direct correlation to the philosophy and practices of Integral Education.”