J. Krishnamurti and Educational Practice

Description

Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) was a world-renowned philosopher, speaker, educationist, and writer. This edited volume seeks to contextualize his teachings and its contemporary relevance in educational endeavours and practices in different parts of the country. The contributors to the volume argue that Krishnamurti sought to change the way education is perceived, from the mere teaching of knowledge and skills, into a life-changing experience of learning from relationships and life. The intent of this volume is thus twofold- first, to draw out the educational ideas of Krishnamurti based on his writings and talks to teachers and students at the various schools that he helped establish and from the legacy that he bequeathed to these institutions. Secondly, it seeks to uncover the practices and processes at some of these institutions through a range of essays that address diverse issues and themes. These include essays on curriculum building, inclusive education, pedagogy in classroom teaching, debates on educational philosophy and practice etc. They help bring out the breakthroughs and barriers in the educational processes as practiced in these schools. This volume is aimed at understanding the relationship between education and society through both the analyses of the educational practices in these schools as well as their role in contemporary society.

About the Editor

Meenakshi Thapan, is Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, and Co-ordinator of the D.S. Kothari Centre for Science, Ethics, and Education, University of Delhi since 2012. She is a Trustee of the Krishnamurti Foundation India. Her first book was Life at School: An Ethnographic Study (Oxford University Press, 1991, 2nd edition, 2006) and the most recent are Education and Society: Themes, Perspectives, Practices (ed.) (Oxford University Press, 2015), and Ethnographies of Schooling in Contemporary India (ed.) (SAGE, 2014). She is also Series Editor of a Series on the Sociology and Social Anthropology of Education in South Asia (SAGE 2015-2017) and of a five volume series on Women and Migration in Asia (SAGE, 2005-2008).

Contributors:
Vikas Baniwal, Abismrita Chakravarty, Priyanuj Choudhury, Radhika Herzberger, Hitesh Kukreja, Thomas Mueller, Disha Pandey, Rohini Ram Mohan, Hillary Rodrigues, Madhulika Sonkar, Bharat Suri, Meenakshi Thapan

Table of contents

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

SECTION 1: SOCIAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND MORAL INSIGHTS INTO EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

1. Krishnamurti, Values, and Education

Meenakshi Thapan

2. Insight through Awareness: A Crucial Value in Krishnamurti’s Approach to Education

Hillary Rodrigues

3. Values and the Culture of Schools

Radhika Herzberger

4. Curricular Concerns and Practices in a Krishnamurti School

Abismrita Chakravarty

5. Krishnamurti’s Dialogue as Being Open to the ‘Other’

Vikas Baniwal

SECTION 2: LEARNER-CENTRED PEDAGOGY IN PRACTICE

6. ‘Right Relationship’ between Teachers and Students: Ethnographic Unravelling of Krishnamurti’s Ideas in Practice at Rishi Valley School

Madhulika Sonkar

7. A Space Sans Fear: The Valley School in Bengaluru

Priyanuj Choudhury

8. Celebrating Diversities: Inclusive Learning at the Valley School

Disha Pandey

SECTION 3: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: THE MULTIGRADE–MULTILEVEL PROGRAMME

9. Multigrade Instruction at Rishi Valley and Neel Bagh: Philosophical and Historical Perspectives

Radhika Herzberger

10. Philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti in the Educational Practice of the Multigrade–Multilevel Methodology

Thomas Müller

11. Child-Centred Learning in Praxis: Implementing Multigrade–Multilevel Methodology in Rural Schools of Rishi Valley

Rohini Ram Mohan

12. Contextual Challenges for Primary School Education: The Promise of Multigrade–Multilevel Methodology

Hitesh Kukreja

13. Going beyond the Self: Krishnamurti’s Contribution to Teacher Education

Bharat Suri

Index

About the Editor and Contributors