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Institute of Sathya Sai Education
All teachers should be teachers of values education, directly through teaching about values and morals, or indirectly, by their own modelling. The Report of UNESCO Commission on Education for the 21st Century (1995), describes the four pillars of education critical for an economically productive and socially rich life:
- learning to be: the right to self identification, self definition, self esteem, etc.
- learning to know: the right to self knowledge, learning to learn, etc.
- learning to do: the right to self development, employment, etc.
- learning to live together: the right to self determination, to work in groups and teams, to resolve conflicts, etc.
Traditionally, education has been concerned with ‘learning to know’ and ‘learning to do’. However, recently ‘learning to be’ and ‘learning to live together’ have been acknowledged as important missions.
The Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) programme founded in India by Sathya Sai Baba and now operates successfully in more than 160 countries. It is supported by national education department policies in several countries. It is a secular programme concerned with putting back character development and values into education and developing all domains of the student's personality. The fundamental principle of SSEHV is that all teaching is based on love and that the teacher's example in living the values is the most critical component of values education.
There are several teaching approaches to draw out the values inherent within children: silent sitting, story telling, use of positive affirmations, music and group activities . These are not new but we have lost sight of their usefulness. SSEHV does not have to be an “add-on” to already fully-packed school programme – it can be integrated effectively into existing subject curricula.
International research evidence suggests that regular use of SSEHV strategies can lead to improvements in students’ concentration, behaviour, character in general, and even academic results.
Five Universal Human Values:
Truth, Love, Non-Violence, Peace & Right Conduct
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