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JAIN DIGEST⚫Winter 2007
A new curriculum for each year is developed at the beginning of cach Pathshala school year and is published at the end of previous school year during the annual open house.
Three of our teachers are active members of JAINA education committee. We believe Education is very critical for the development of the Jain society and JAINA must make education its top priority and provide needed funds. Procuring funds should not be a responsibility of Education committee only.
Swadhyay
Our 'Swadhyay' class is our adult class and it is a part of Pathshala. The curriculum includes Jain philosophy and practice, meaning behind rituals, Jain history, Jain way of life and practice in daily life. It is a common group inclusive of all traditions. Open communication about practices of different traditions and its understanding are followed. Class is held along with all other Pathshala classes. We provide material and all JAINA Education Series books to most of the centers on behalf of JAINA Education Committee, as we are working with Pravin
Shah, Chair of JAINA Education. We started with a group of 8 participants and now we have almost 60 attending regularly. We have observed that it has affected our personal life in terms of spirituality and improved daily life, brought an awareness of non-violence at deeper level, vegetarianism, veganism, nonconsumption of animal based products (fur, leather, silk, cheese, milk) in daily life. Most of the presentations are computer based Power Point. This class is in English language so young adults can participate too.
Detroit Jain Center
Pathshala: 110 students, ages 3 and up; Swadhyay: 67 adults At present total 10 groups of students based on school grades, meet on biweekly basis.
The curriculum for the 26 year old Pathshala program at Detroit Center is based on our own goals, understanding of students, and available knowledgeable teachers. We do not get bogged down by sect based teaching - we keep our minds open for any suggestions from the members. We are very satisfied and thankful to JAINA Education committee's support. It has also given us the exposure to other centers - in linking up with other centers' activities, as well as helps us in providing a structured curriculum based on various books it has published for Pathshala, teachers training, and access to the JAINA library. We are in constant dialogue with JAINA Education Team to tackle the issues with new generation and how to motivate them.
Most of our students go to well reputed colleges in Michigan in surrounding areas of Detroit - so it is easy for them to attend Jain Centers' programs. We see the past students during Paryushan, Diwali program, Thanksgiving program etc. We
J36 Education International
are working on ways to encourage the involvement of past students and share their experiences.
Our mode of teaching is in continuous improvement. We use flip charts, overhead projector, LCD projector based power point presentations, charts from India etc. We encourage activities where senior students give short presentations to junior students, and make topic based presentations to 300 plus members during society events. Some of our innovative programs include Study Class Sponsorship(s), Jain Buck Program (student reward system), Shibirs conducted by visiting Scholars, Annual Essay - story - Coloring Competition, Birth Day of the Month Pictures, JOY (Jain Organization of Youth) group activities, Snatra Pujas by students, Thanksgiving Day Navakar Jaap, Students' Annual Day Program, Stage Recital Program for Stutis - Sutras - Stavans, Youngsters' Tapascharyas Recognition, Inter-faith Programs, Bhagwan's School Enrollment Celebration.
We are blessed with tons of volunteers for all the above mentioned tasks. We have 23 active teachers to cover 10 group classes plus 10 to 12 other volunteers to coordinate various
programs.
Swadhyay
We have three Swadhyay groups, some meeting twice a month on Sundays, others meeting once a week on Wednesdays or Saturdays. Emphasis is paid to through understandings of Stanzas' we generally recite during everyday activities leading to Logass Sutra and 63 Silaka Purush Charitra stories, or 9 Tatva and 6 Dravya based upon Tatvarthdhigam Sutra by Umaswatiji. We talk about what different Jain traditions do and their purpose as we know the best, focus on internal intentions rather than external Kriya. At present we use 4 volume set of 63 Silaka Purush Charitra by Shree Hemchandracharyaji, Gujarati translation by Pandit
Kunvarjibhai.
The Bhakti Bhavna is a separate activity even though most of attendees' are common with the Swadhyay group. The whole purpose is to change internal thought process and that's where the focus is during Swadhyay. In 2005 about 40 people accepted some form of 12 Vrats of Shravak in public and there can not be any better example than this about changes occurring in people's lives.
Jain Society of Houston
Pathshala: 70 students, ages 3-16; Swadhyay:
We are proud to be involved in the Cherry Hill Jain Sangh Pathshala. Fortunately, we've had talented volunteers, those who have immense knowledge on Jainism and others who are creative with finding easy techniques to teach kids. Pathshala was initiated with approximately 35 kids and today the number has doubled. As we know, age is an important factor when it
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