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A Free CD
If
you would like a free copy of the CD "Awakening Intelligence in Students",
a talk by Krishnamurti (with questions) to teachers at the Rishi Valley School
in India in 1970,
to order.
(Krishnamurti asks the question "how to awaken a
quality of intelligence which will act adequately when any problem arises in the
life of the student)
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“…and I think the teaching
profession is the highest profession in the world. Though one acquires very
little money out of it I think it is the greatest thing. Really I do. Really
think that. It isn’t just verbal rhetorical assertion. It’s the greatest
thing, because in our hands lie the whole future generation".
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A list of books,
DVDs, etc of K in dialogue with teachers can be found
can be found on
the book page.
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An educator is not merely a
giver of information; he is one who points the way to wisdom, to truth
#26.
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Excerpts
from J. Krishnamurti
return to top of page
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The following quotes are taken from
Chapter 6 'Parents And Teachers' "Education And The Significance Of Life"
by J Krishnamurti
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The right kind of education begins with the educator, who must
understand himself and
be free from established patterns of thought; for
what he is, that he imparts. If he has not been rightly educated, what can
he teach except the same mechanical knowledge on which he himself has been
brought up? The problem, therefore, is not the child, but the parent and
the teacher; the problem is to educate the educator.
If we who are the educators do not understand ourselves, if we do not
understand our relationship with the child but merely stuff him with
information and make him pass examinations, how can we possibly bring
about a new kind of education? The pupil is there to be guided and helped;
but if the guide, the helper is himself confused and narrow, nationalistic
and theory-ridden, then naturally his pupil will be what he is, and
education becomes a source of further confusion and strife.
If we see the truth of this, we will realize how important it is that
we begin to educate ourselves rightly. To be concerned with our own
re-education is far more necessary than to worry about the future
well-being and security of the child.
To educate the educator - that is, to have him understand himself - is one
of the most difficult undertakings, because most of us are already
crystallized within a system of thought or a pattern of action; we have
already given ourselves over to some ideology, to a religion, or to a
particular standard of conduct. That is why we teach the child what to
think and not how to think.
The first thing a teacher must ask himself, when he decides that he
wants to teach, is what exactly he means by teaching. Is he going to
teach the usual subjects in the habitual way? Does he want to condition
the child to become a cog in the social
machine, or help him to be an integrated, creative human being, a threat
to false values? And if the educator is to help the student to examine and
understand the values and influences that surround him and of which he is
a part, must he not be aware of them himself? If one is blind, can one
help others to cross to the other shore?
Surely, the teacher himself must first begin to see. He must be
constantly alert, intensely aware of his own thoughts and feelings, aware
of the ways in which he is conditioned, aware of his activities and his
responses; for out of this watchfulness comes intelligence, and with it a
radical transformation in his relationship to people and to things.
How can we teach children not to seek personal security if we
ourselves are pursuing it? What hope is there for the child if we who are
parents and teachers are not entirely vulnerable to life, if we erect
protective walls around ourselves? To discover the true significance of
this struggle for security, which is causing such chaos in the world, we
must begin to awaken our own intelligence by being aware of our
psychological processes; we must begin to question all the values which
now enclose us.
Merely to follow
a system, whether political or educational, will
never solve our many social problems; and it is far more important to
understand the manner of our approach to any problem, than to understand
the problem itself.
The right kind of educator has no authority, no power in society;
he is beyond the edicts and sanctions of society.
All
authority is a hindrance, and it is essential that the educator
should not become an authority for the student.
Because he is devoted solely to the freedom and integration of the
individual, the right kind of educator is deeply and truly religious. He
does not belong to any sect, to any organized religion; he is free of
beliefs and rituals, for he knows that they are only illusions, fancies,
superstitions projected by the desires of those who create them. He knows
that reality or God comes into being only when there is self-knowledge and
therefore freedom.
As
long as education is only a job
like any other, conflict and enmity among individuals and among the
various class levels of society are inevitable; there will be increasing
competition, the ruthless pursuit of personal ambition, and the building
up of the national and racial divisions which create antagonism and
endless wars.
If we are in earnest about being the right kind of teachers, we shall
be thoroughly dissatisfied, not with a particular system of education, but
with all systems, because we see that no educational method can free the
individual. A method or a system may condition him to a different set of
values, but it cannot make him free.
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Questioner: Why do we find pleasure in our games and not in our studies?
Krishnamurti: For the very simple reason that your teachers do not
know how to teach. That is all, there is no very complicated reason for
it. You know, if a teacher loves mathematics, or history, or whatever it
is he teaches, then you also will love that subject, because love of
something communicates itself. Don't you know that? If a musician loves to
sing and his whole being is in it, doesn't that feeling communicate itself
to you who are listening? You feel that you too would like to learn how to
sing. But most educators don't love their subject; it has become a bore to
them, a routine through which they have to go in order to earn a living.
If your teachers really loved to teach, do you know what would happen to
you? You would be extraordinary human beings. You would love not only your
games and your studies, but also the flowers, the river, the birds, the
earth, because you would have this thing vibrating in your hearts; and you
would learn much more quickly, your minds would be excellent and not
mediocre.
That is why it is very important to educate the educator - which is
very difficult, because most educators are already well settled in their
habits. But habit does not rest so heavily on the young; and if you love
even one thing for itself - if you really love your games, or mathematics,
or history, or painting, or singing - then you will find that
intellectually you are alert, vital, and you will be very good in all your
studies. After all, the mind wants to inquire, to know, because it is
curious; but that curiosity is destroyed by the wrong kind of education.
Therefore it is not only the student who must be educated, but also the
teacher. Living is itself a process of education, a process of learning.
There is an end to examinations, but there is no end to learning and you
can learn from everything if your mind is curious, alert.
'Think on These Things' Chapter 13 'Equality and Freedom'
- a talk to students at Rajghat 17th
January 1955.
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