World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 467

Lastly, recognition of the rights of other people should not be jeopardized by the way children and young people are taught. Teachers who are so dogmatic that they stifle curiosity or healthy criticism instead of teaching their pupils how to engage in lively debate can do more harm than good. Forgetting that they are putting themselves across as models, they may, because of their attitude, inflict lifelong harm on their pupils in terms of the latter's openness to other people and their ability to face up to the inevitable tensions between individuals, groups and nations. One of the essential tools for education in the twenty-first century will be a suitable forum for dialogue and discussion.
Towards common goals
When people work together on exciting projects which involve them in unaccustomed forms of action, differences and even conflicts between individuals tend to pale and sometimes disappear. A new form of identity is created by these projects which enable people to transcend the routines of their personal lives and attach value to what they have in common as against what divides them. In sport, for example, the tensions between social classes or nationalities can eventually be welded into a spirit of solidarity by the commitment to a common cause. In the world of work, too, so many achievements would not have been possible if people had not successfully moved beyond the conflicts that generally arise in hierarchical organizations through their involvement in a common project.
Formal education should therefore set aside sufficient time and opportunity in its curricula to introduce young people to collaborative projects from an early age as part of their sports or cultural activities. But this approach should also get them involved in social activities: the renovation of slum areas, help for disadvantaged people, humanitarian action, senior citizen help schemes and so on. Other educational organizations should take over these activities from the schools. Another point is that, in everyday school life, the involvement of teachers and pupils in common projects can help to teach a method for resolving conflicts and provide a valuable source of reference for pupils in later life. 4. Learning to be :
At its very first meeting, the Commission powerfully re-asserted a fundamental principle: education should contribute to every person's complete development - mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation and spirituality. All people should receive in their childhood and youth an education that equips them to develop their own independent, critical way of thinking and judgement so that they can make up their own minds on the best courses of action in the different circumstances in their lives. In this respect, the Commission embraces one of the basic assump
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