Chapter 1
Introduction
Rationale
Homo sapiens are quite apart from other species of life on this planet as far as learning capacity is concerned. The human intelligence allows human beings to learn from past experiences and so every new generation, we are able to excel in science and technology and go far beyond what our forefathers have ever dreamt was possible. At the same time, human beings have also fallen down much further than animals. We have had wars after wars. There is no end to cruelty. Brothers are killing brothers. It seems that human beings are unable to learn to live in peace with one another.
As we enter the 21st century, great strides in the field
of science and technology are evident. But the world was shocked with the
destruction of the
It seems that the world leaders and world politicians are incapable of bringing peace into the world. Many people have lost faith in politics. The only hope seems to be in education. In the 20th century, many educators have come forward with many new theories such as behaviorism, cognitivism, humanism, eclecticism, information processing, theory of multiple intelligences, constructivism, constructionism, cooperative learning, etc. However, education has failed to bring about peace in the world. It is no fault of the educators but it can be seen that education is often led by politics. When the Russians launched the sputnik into space for the first time in the history of mankind, the Americans were shocked and a new curriculum was designed to regain supremacy in the field of science and technology. The main motivation for education is not for humanity but for economic prosperity or technological supremacy.
Through many bitter lessons, many countries have come to realize that education should not just produce great people only but education should produce good people as well. It is clear that if we have people who are clever but selfish or with great intellectual capability but without moral character then our world will not have peace. Human values are required in politics, in business, in factories and offices, in schools and universities; in fact, human values must be with all human beings and in all walks of life. Instead of violence, we need love and compassion in the heart of human beings. Thus there is a need for a model of instruction with human values as an integral part. This must be simple enough for all teachers to understand and put into practice in the classroom.
In
In 1982, the researcher met Sri Sathya Sai Baba in
India for the first time. Sri Sathya Sai Baba is Chancellor of the Sri Sathya
Sai Institute of Higher Learning (Deemed University) in Puttaparthi, Andhra
Pradesh, India. He has established not only the university but many other
colleges as well as kindergarten, primary and secondary schools. A few months
later in 1983, the researcher had a private interview with Sri Sathya Sai Baba
who gave the following advice: “Education
without character, politics without principle, commerce without morality, science
without humanity, are not only useless but positively
dangerous.”
He further said: “The end of
education is character” and explained that
education must bring out the five human values of right conduct, peace, truth,
love and non-violence.
From the meeting with Sri Sathya Sai Baba in India,
the researcher was motivated to work in the field of education and started to
experiment with children in the slum area of Bangkok and found that there was
significant change in the behaviour of the children. From the experience of
teaching children, the researcher then started to train teachers in Education
in Human Values. But it was not until the year 1987 that the researcher
discovered through intuition the concept of human values integrated learning as
described in chapter 3 of this dissertation. This helped to clarify how human
beings learn so as to become a person of character. The researcher then began
to give talks and lectures on this concept of human values integrated learning
in Thailand as well as many countries around the world. A great deal of
interest was generated and it was decided to set up a model school where this
learning concept would be applied and where teachers and educators could come
observe and study. With a lot of support from a number of people, the Sathya
Sai School was established in 1992 in the Lopburi Province of Thailand. The
Sathya Sai School is a boarding school starting initially with only the first
grade (Prathom Suksa 1) of the primary school and every year a higher grade is
added. Thus the children who joined the school since its inception is now (2003) in the 12th
grade (Mathayom Suksa 6) of the secondary school.
Education is given free, with food and personal items charged to the parents at
cost. The school uses the national curriculum but instruction uses the human
values integrated learning concept.
In 1997, it was decided to
propagate this human values integrated learning concept around the world and so
the
The human values integrated
learning concept is now being used in many schools around the world. Already 51
Sathya Sai Schools have
been established in some 30 countries with the same ideals and quality standard
that was written for the
1. To document the evolution of
Sathya Sai instructional
model.
2. To provided empirical
evidence for the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept.
3. To clarify the effectiveness
of the learning concept.
4. To develop an instructional
model so as to make instruction more systematic so that it can be used at all
level of education - in elementary and secondary schools as well as colleges
and universities.
Much improvement will be required in order to extend and disseminate the Human Values Integrated Instruction Model amongst teachers and educators. It is for these reasons that the researcher is conducting this study to develop a human values integrated instructional model.
Objectives of the Study
To
develop the human values integrated instructional model:
1. To introduce the researcher’s intuitive
learning concept.
2. To conduct documentary research
pertaining to learning theories and documents in countries where the researcher’s
intuitive learning concept has been introduced. Where documents are not
available, interviews and questionnaires will be used.
3. To conduct ex post facto research in the
4.
To develop the Human Values
Integrated Instructional Model
5.
To test and refine the Human Values Integrated
Instructional Model that had
been developed.
Procedures of the Study
Based on the researcher’s intuition, the
original concept of Human Values Integrated Learning was obtained. From this concept, the expected outcome in the learner
consists of the 5 human values of love, truth, right conduct, peace and non-violence. This study presented how the intuitive learning concept was
academically developed and become the Human Values Integrated Instructional
Model, the outcome of which was thoroughly examined to test the Model. The research method thus consisted of six phases as follows and
shown in Figure 1.1.
Phase 1: a study of various theories of
learning was made in order to make use of them in
the development of the model (Chapter 5).
Phase 2: documentary research was
made at the schools and institutions that had
implemented this concept (Chapter 5).
Phase 3: ex post facto research was done at the
Phase 4: the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model was developed (Chapter 6).
Phase 5: the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model was presented to teachers, educators to
obtain a feedback (Chapter 7).
Phase 6: the model was empirically tested on
students at both the basic level of education as well as higher education (Chapter
7).
Chapter 3
Chapter
5
Phase 2
Chapter 6
Phase 6
Testing of the
Model on Students
Chapter
7
Figure 1.1 The Procedures of the study
Significance of the Study
It was expected that this study would result in a model that could
be used in the training of teachers in
An important part of this study was that
the model would show the way to help bring about human
excellence in the students. The model would become a useful tool in the development of good character which meant that the students would exhibit human values of
love, truth, peace, right conduct and non-violence in their life.
The dissertation would be later translated into
Scope of the Study
In phase 6 of the study, the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model
was tested at three different locations. There were one primary school,
one primary/secondary school and one university participate in this study. They
were
In
testing all the three schools, only in the case of
Assumption
It is assumed here that the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept was
derived from the intuition of the researcher.
Definitions of Terms
Human Values: The Human Values referred to in this
dissertation consist of the values of Right Conduct,
Peace, Truth, Love and Non-violence.
Right Conduct: Persons with the value of right
conduct are persons who have good behaviour with good manners. They will always
act without selfishness and think of others and the society
before themselves. They will make use of what they have learnt for the benefit
of others. They will be helping others and serve the society they live in.
Peace: Persons with the value of peace are calm and have the ability
to control the senses and emotions. They feel at peace with themselves as well
as know how to live in peace with others. They have high EQ (emotional
quotient). They are able to control anger, lust, envy, pride, attachment,
hatred, fear and anxiety which are all the opposite to peace.
Love: The value of love refers to pure love which gives rise to
compassion for all. Persons with the value of love only desire to see joy and
happiness in others. They are happy when others are happy. Thus they will do
everything to help others to be happy. They are full of self-sacrifice,
desiring nothing for themselves.
Truth: Persons with the value of truth are people of wisdom and
understanding for they are always seeking for a deeper understanding of the
higher truth. They have an understanding that the world around them is
impermanent and they learn to be detached from all things that are not
permanent. They have the feeling of oneness and see themselves in others. They
realise that whatever they do unto others, they are doing to themselves. Their
conscience dictates their actions. They are able to use their intuition, which
gives rise to wisdom knowledge and understanding of life.
Non-violence: The value of non-violence is really a
summation of all the other four values. Non-violence is only possible when
there are the values of peace, love, right conduct and truth. Persons with the
value of non-violence will also respect the law and there will be non-violation
of the laws of nature. Thus, they will love all people, animals and the
environment.
Intuitive Learning Concept: This is the learning process involving
human Values derived intuitively by the researcher. The concept
consists of several components: the physical body and the
five senses, the conscious mind, the sub-conscious mind, the super-conscious
mind, the 6th sense and the environment.
Instructional Model: An instructional model in this study refers
to a set of interrelated components, which describes the roles, processes and
activities to achieve the stated aims.
Human Values Integrated Instructional
Model: It is a guideline developed
around the researcher’s Intuitive Learning Concept to help
the school to inculcate the five human
values in learners which describes the principle, teacher’s role and the process of integrating the five human values in
teaching – learning various contents as its core and describes other supportive
roles, processes and activities influencing the teaching-learning process. They
are: the process of learning and the role of the learner; the
role of the teacher in helping the learner in the learning process both inside
and outside the classroom; the role of administrators in managing the learning
process and helping to create the right atmosphere for learning;
extra-curricular activities enhancing the five human values and the role of the
parents and the community.
Chapter 2
Related Literature Review
The oldest literature known are sacred books such as the Vedas,
Ramayana, and Bhagavad Gita.
All these sacred books are written to teach everyone about how to lead a moral
life. In the Ramayana, Lord Rama was an example of
righteous conduct and self-sacrifice. Hanuman gave an example of duty and
devotion. Laksamana was an example of selfless
service. In the Bhagavad Gita,
Lord Krishna taught Arjuna how to perform duty
without being attached to the result. This is what is referred to as Karma
Yoga.
The Old Testament which became the basis of three major religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, gave the rules of conduct - the Ten Commandments. The New Testament describes the life and teaching of Lord Jesus (Circa 4BC – 30 AD). Jesus was a supreme example of sacrifice by allowing Himself to be crucified on the cross in order to save the world. Jesus taught his disciples to love one another and to “love thy neighbor as thyself”.
Some five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, Greek
philosopher Socrates (470? – 399 BC) was teaching his disciples through asking
questions. The disciples had to find out the answer for themselves. This method
is a very effective way of allowing the student to learn to think. Other great
thinkers in
At about the same period as Socrates, the Buddha (Circa 563 – 483 BC) was teaching his disciples the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha started with the assumption that there was suffering in the world and started to analyze the cause of suffering. The Buddha then showed the way out of suffering through the Noble Eightfold Path. The Buddha had demonstrated a scientific approach in his analysis of the problem. In the Kalama Sutra, the Buddha would caution everyone not to believe a statement easily because a teacher had told us, or some authority had made the statement. We should use our discrimination and think about it carefully before deciding whether to believe or not. The most important literature in Buddhism is the Tripitaka where the teachings of the Buddha were recorded.
We have seen the main difference in idea on the origin of knowledge between Plato and Aristotle. Plato taught that intelligence is inborn and comes from within. Whereas Aristotle argued that intelligence is developed through interaction with the environment. The Buddha, however, had demonstrated that both are essential in obtaining knowledge. The Buddha himself started the path to knowledge through observing the environment. He saw people who were ill with diseases. Then he saw an old man and later a dead body. This led to several questions. The Buddha wanted to know why there was suffering in the world. What was the cause of suffering? Was it possible to get rid of suffering? If it was possible, then what was the method to be used? The Buddha could not get answers from mere observation from the environment or from other teachers and he had to rely on the inner wisdom. Through practices of silencing the mind and going within, the Buddha finally found out all the answers. Educators have criticized Plato’s idea that Plato did not describe the methodology of discovering this innate knowledge. The Buddha, however, prescribed the method of finding the inner wisdom in great details. Educators in the past had chosen to ignore the Buddha’s method because they thought that this was religious.
Historically, the North American mainstream academic psychology had
attempted to be scientific in approach and had actively excluded religion (Mikulas, 2000).
However, with the availability of translated texts from eastern
psychology in the second half of the 20th century, there had been a
greater interest in the West in yoga, meditation, ayuraveda
(natural healing system of
Levels of Consciousness
In Conjunctive Psychology (Mikulas, 2000
pp.23 – 29), it is recognized that essentially all people exist at four totally
interrelated levels of being: biological, behavioral, personal and
transpersonal. Ken Wilber talked about the spectrum of consciousness: matter,
body, mind, soul and spirit (Wilber, 1997). According to the Vedanta Hinduism,
the individual person is composed of five sheaths or levels of being. The outer
sheath is called the annamayakosha or the physical
sphere. The next one is the pranamayakosha or the
vital force level, which is the sphere of the emotions. Next is the manomayakosha or the sheath of the mind. Next is the vijnanamayakosha or the sheath of intuition. The final one
is the anandamayakosha or the spiritual bliss level.
In this dissertation, four levels will be used as a model of learning: the
body, the subconscious, the conscious and the super-conscious (Jumsai, 1997). The aim in all of the above is learning to
raise the consciousness from the physical to the highest level – transpersonal,
spirit, anandamayakosha or the super-conscious.
Intuition
An important aspect of the learning process
is intuition. Studies of people like Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton and
other eminent scientists have shown that intuition has an important role in the
learning process (Jumsai, 1997 pp. 69-70; Marshall
and Rossman,1995). Einstein said that “intuition is not result from deliberate
intention or program, but comes directly from the heart” (Hoffman & Dukas, 1973 cited in Braud and
Anderson, 1998. p.52). Liebmann and Colella said that “Intuiting
is the process of listening for and attending to quick and ready insights or
convictions that lack rational thought or inference, of contemplating
perceptions based on feelings or other sensory stimuli, and of knowing without
knowing.”(Costa and Liebmann,
1997 p.183). Liebmann
and Wright
talked about four phases being involved in the intuitive process: (a)
preparation – a question is directed to the unconscious and information is
provided; (b) incubation – accumulated information simmers in the unconscious;
(c) illumination – a solution is produced in a mysterious flash of insight; and
(d) verification – fantasies are discerned from true inspiration (Costa and Liebmann, 1997 p.200).
In order to be able to use intuition in the learning process, the mind must be calm and concentrated. Many prescriptions have been given to control the mind. In Buddhism, the most popular method is the practice of “ The Mindfulness or Awareness of in-and-out breathing” (Rahula 1959). The person practicing this would sit with the back straight and upright but relaxed and then simply watch the breathing at the tip of the nose being aware of the air entering and leaving.
Chapter 3
Human Values Integrated Learning
Concept
Development of the Concept
In
1987, the researcher was sitting in meditation on a mountain in the north of
Rationale for the Theory
To develop a proper theory of learning and Instruction, it is necessary to be clear on what this theory is intended to achieve. When the learner goes though the process of learning and instruction, what should the learner achieve?
The National Education Act, B.E. 2542 (1999) of Thailand and amended in the Second National Education Act B.E. 2545 (2002) in Section 1, article 6, states very clearly what should be the aim of education and that is to achieve human excellence physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually. The learner should have ethics and culture in leading his/her life and able to live in peace with his/her fellow human beings.
The
Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Learning, Sri Sathya Sai Baba said in his discourse at the first conference of Sathya Sai Schools on
The Human Values Integrated Learning
Concept
1.
Reception of Stimuli from the Environment
Human beings learn through the process of interaction with the environment. We interact with the outside world through the five senses. Information is received through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin that is through the senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. If the learner is without these five senses, then information from the environment cannot be transferred to the learner. It is thus necessary to analyze the process of learning using the five senses.
In Figure 3.1, the big circle represents the physical body with all the sense organs. The arrow represents the stimuli received by the sense organs in the physical body. Many brain researchers have explained that the stimuli received through the sensory organs are processed by the brain, and the brain functions like a computer (Klausmeier, cited in Khemmani, 2002). However, even though the brain receives the information from the sensory organs, it does not mean that awareness or understanding will take place automatically. We need to consider the function of the conscious mind as well. The conscious mind is that part of the mind that we are aware of. The awareness of what we are thinking takes place in the conscious mind. We use the conscious mind to think and make decisions. In order to understand the stimuli from the environment through our sensory organs, we need the conscious mind.
Figure 3.1 The connection between the brain, the five senses and the conscious mind
To understand the working of the conscious mind, let us suppose that the ears receive a sound. Sound is vibration of air or pressure waves in the air. As this vibration enters the ears, it vibrates the eardrums, which then convert the sound to nerve currents that are transmitted to the brain. Although the brain may receive the stimuli from outside, but the awareness may not take place. For example, a learner may be listening to a teacher talking. If however, the learner’s mind is wandering in a shopping mall, the learner will not be aware of what the teacher is saying even though the brain has received the signal from the sound. Thus in order to have awareness, the conscious mind must learn to concentrate on the stimuli. Without concentration, the learning process will not take place effectively. Thus the learner must learn to focus their attention on the subject being learnt.
Let us now understand how stimuli received through the five sensory organs are interpreted into meaningful information so that the learning process can take place properly. Let us take for example the eyes and the ears. The stimulus received by the eyes is light. According to science, light is electromagnetic waves consisting of electrical (E) and magnetic (H) fields vibrating at a very high frequency. Since the electrical and magnetic fields are just energy vibrations; to become meaningful there must be some kind of interpretation or decoding so the learning process can take place. Taking the example of a television receiver, information in the form of electrical and magnetic impulses is received by the television. This electromagnetic energy received has no meaning for the viewer until the television translate and interpret the information into picture and sound and transfer them onto the screen and the speakers.
Figure 3.2 A ray of light: Electromagnetic energy
Similarly, the ear receives stimuli in the form of sound, which is vibration of air. They are simply vibrations of molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Thus the important question is how the learner is able to interpret the sound vibrations into something meaningful.
Regarding the processing of the information received, clearly the information coming to our sensory organs are encoded in some way and the learner has to decode the energy so received. Again, many questions arise in the way the decoding is done. With the same stimuli coming to several people, but the understanding is often different. Looking at the same scene, some people may be happy, some may feel sad, some may think that this is good, some may think it is bad. Thus decoding is done in different ways. We need to understand all this to help students learn in the way that will enhance the objective of education and help our teachers to give the most effective training to the students in accordance with the goal desired.
2. Interpretation of Information from the Environment
Information-processing theory has been important in addressing issues related to the learning process. However, it is inadequate in explaining the wide variety of ways the mind functions. The researcher has decided to use the mind concept in order to cover many more functions, which are not covered by brain researches.
The conscious mind was earlier described as that part of the mind where the awareness and understanding take place. But there is also an unconscious part of the mind, which we are not aware of. Because we do not know what the unconscious mind is thinking, it could create a lot of problems for our children. Thus it becomes necessary to understand the unconscious part of our mind and make use of it in the learning and instruction process by the teachers.
The unconscious part of our mind will be divided into two parts in accordance with its function and that is the subconscious mind and the super-conscious mind as shown in Figure 3.3. The subconscious part deals with our memory and the storage of all our past experiences. The super-conscious will be discussed later in this chapter.
BODY
Figure 3.3 The Mind Concept for Information Processing
Whatever has been seen, heard or received through the sensory organs, whatever we have felt emotionally, experienced, thought or done through various actions, and whatever have been our environment in our past, all are stored in our subconscious mind. Casper at the Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Carolina University has shown that even during the time of pregnancy, the emotions of the mother, the type of music listened to, the movies she liked to see and the type of food eaten during the time of pregnancy, all were recorded in the subconscious and would later influence the life of the person after birth (Casper, 1984). Wambach attempted to draw out from the subconscious information recorded in the past through the use of hypnosis and she was able to show that information has been recorded in minute detail in the past and are not discarded from the subconscious contrary to current ideas from information-processing theory that some data are lost from the human memory system (Wambach, 1978).
The subconscious performs function similar to the memory in the computer. It stores data, information, past events, and programs. In addition to an ordinary computer, the subconscious stores feelings and emotions as well. The programs include programs for automatic functions of the body such as the heartbeat, the breathing, the digestion of food etc. A new program can be installed in the subconscious through various means such as seeing or hearing something repeatedly, saying something verbally or mentally repeatedly, or performing an action repeatedly. Behaviors and attitudes can be changed by the application of a new program installed in the subconscious. Peale wrote a book on the power of positive thinking (Peale, 1989). Whatever we think, so we become. A French medical doctor, Dr. Coue¢ treated his patients successfully by getting them to repeat: “ Day by day, I am getting better and better!”
As earlier explained, light or sound received by the eyes and ears
are simply energy and to understand what we hear or see, we need to interpret
or decode the energy received. As an example, when the researcher first went to
Stimuli received by the sensory organs will not be understood immediately by the conscious mind. The conscious mind needs to search for similar data stored in the subconscious. If a similar pattern to the stimuli exists, then the conscious mind recognizes what has been received. It is now easy to understand why some children react violently to certain stimuli. Let us suppose that as a baby, the parents often quarreled and fought each other in front of the baby. The subconscious recorded these events. The baby has now grown up and everything has been forgotten. Then one day, some one came and started to use abusive language at him. Unconsciously, those stimuli awaken within him the emotions recorded long ago and he became angry and started to quarrel and fight with that person. Parents and teachers need to understand that programming of aggressive behavior of children is done through watching violent movies and videos, playing video games and computer games as well as the news media reporting on crimes and violence.
It is now becoming clear that in order to promote good character in the child, the desired human values must become an integral part of all subjects taught in the class (National Education Act, B.E. 2542 (1999), Article 24(4)). In this way, human values will become an integral part of the data that are stored in the subconscious. The atmosphere of the school or the school climate should be charged with love and peace (Jareonsettasin, 2000). Teachers should be a model of the desired characteristic in the children. Values and desired characteristic should also be an integral part of all sports and extra-curricular activities.
Good memory is very important in the learning process. Information- processing theory has given us guideline on the short-term memory and the long-term memory. Long-term memory is activated when there is an association or connection with real life situation and experience. In real life, values do not exist alone, nor do other subjects being taught in the school. Thus, instead of teaching as separate subjects, there should be an integration of values and all subjects. Both intra-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary integration are necessary. Children must be interested in what they are learning, so we must employ a variety of teaching techniques. Several learning theories should be used.
Meditation or the art of concentration or simply learning to focus
the mind also helps to enhance the memory. An experiment was performed at the
Berkeley Campus,
.
%
Years of Practice %
Figure 3.4 The effect of meditation
on memory
Source: Abrams, 1972
3. Self Knowledge – Wisdom
As soon as a child is born, the search for knowledge begins. The child wants to find out about his environment by interacting with it. The child does this by touching objects, putting them in the mouth, throwing them around and observing the result. As the child begins to speak, many questions are asked: “ What is this? What is that?” It is natural for the child to be curious in order to find out about the environment. Formal education seems to have failed to satisfy this innate desire to learn and on the contrary, have killed the desire to learn. People come out of formal education feeling happy that education has come to an end. However, despite all this, people continue to learn through interaction with society and the environment. They learn as they become employed. They learn through new experiences in their new environment. They learn through making many mistakes in life resulting in suffering. They learn to live together in the family and in society. Learning seems to be never ending and life long process. Is there an end to education? Are there the ultimate knowledge, truth and reality? Knowledge seems to be infinite. It is like an expanding circle. Outside the circle is the unknown. As the circle grows, the perimeter adjacent to the unknown becomes bigger and bigger. Scientists begin to realize that the more we know, the more we know that we do not know! The most important question in learning is therefore: “Is there something, that when known, everything is known?”
What is truth?
If something is true today, it must be true tomorrow. If it is true tomorrow, it must be true the day after tomorrow. Thus, it must be true 100 years from now or a million years from now and so on ad infinitum. If it is true today, it must have been true yesterday and through the same logic, it must be true millions of years ago and so on ad infinitum.
If something is true here, it must be true over in another place.
Thus, if it is true in
It is now possible to define “truth” as something that is unchanging and “truth” is independent of time and space.
In our search for “truth”, we have investigated everything that is around us and discover that all of creation has a beginning and an end. The universe started with a big bang some 15 billion years ago. Now black holes exist in the center of each galaxy and are pulling stars and planets into it and it is expected that finally, the whole universe will collapse and disappear. Thus, the whole universe and everything in it is impermanent and changing and therefore cannot be the “truth” as defined above.
Where can “truth” be found? There is only one place left where we have not looked at and that is the search within. This is the beginning of the search for self knowledge or knowledge about the self or self-realization. Many educators will say that this is not the job of educators but it is for philosophers. But as we will see, there are many practical applications in education that will help solve problems that we have not found solutions before.
In Figure 3.5, the unconscious mind is divided into two parts – the subconscious and the super-conscious. As already discussed, the subconscious is the sum total of our past experiences. The super-conscious, however, has completely different function.
SUPER
CONSCIOUS
Figure 3.5 The Mind Concept of Learning in details
When we are working at the subconscious level, our actions are based on programs that have been installed there. The animal feelings of survival and procreation are dominant in our actions. Stimuli received by the sensory organs will produce an automatic response, which is based on past experiences. At this stage of evolution, we are very often very emotional with no self-control. But as we evolve and the conscious mind becomes more dominant, we start to ask questions about everything. There is a natural thirst for knowledge. We start to learn from our mistakes realizing that certain actions will create suffering and we try to avoid having to suffer. But as yet we are plagued by emotions that arise from our subconscious in response to certain stimuli from our environment. From our repeated experiment in life, we learn from experience and observation that certain actions will give us peace and joy.
Human values integrated education for children will quicken this learning process. As teachers help children to fill the subconscious with values, the response from stimuli from the environment will become less emotional and become more peaceful. Children should learn to interpret stimuli received by sensory organs in a positive way. It is important for children to learn to discriminate between good action and bad action. Children should be involved in giving service to others and to society with love and compassion. This type of action based on love and compassion involved by the children is called in this concept the human value of “right conduct”. It is of great value to the learner as it helps them to find peace in life as they learn greater self control and control of the senses. Since peace is what human beings have always been looking for, “peace” is also one of the human values of great importance.
Now it is found that the conscious mind becomes calm, peaceful and
does not react emotionally to various stimuli as before. The ability to
concentrate is improved and memory is enhanced, as a result there is an
improvement in the learning process. Training children in the art of
concentration and meditation would speed up the transformation. It is now that
the super-conscious starts to come into play. The conscience within the
children will start to teach and guide them to act in the right way, to do only what is good for themselves and to others. A
new type of learning has started. Knowledge and understanding are gained
intuitively without having to use the conscious mind. In fact, the conscious
mind needs to be stilled and completely calm for intuition to occur. Many great
discoveries in the past have been achieved when the mind is calm. Sir Isaac Newton
discovered the law of gravity while sitting quietly under an apple tree when
and apple fell down on his head. As a small child,
It is not the aim of the researcher to attempt to transform children into Buddhas or saints. But we need to help bring out inner strength and wisdom in the children. Children should have good character and their lives should be filled with human values. Development of the super-conscious will help to bring about wisdom and understanding and the capability to make new discoveries. Self awareness or self realization will mean that children will have the understanding of who they are, why are they on this earth and what is the purpose of their lives. Their lives will therefore becoming more meaningful and useful to the society and to the world. The great human value gained through the development of the super-conscious is the understanding of the “truth”.
4. The Role of Love and Compassion in the Learning Process
Kessler in her book “The Soul of Education, Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion and Character at School”, discusses the need for deep connection that will help to nourish the soul of students. This deep connection is described as profound respect and deep caring in a relationship with one’s own self, with others, with the community, with nature or with the world (Kessler, 2000, pp.18-35). Once this deep connection is established, then the behavior of the youth begins to change. The students can take in the world through learning, loving and serving.
Jenkins in her book “The Joyful Child” says: “Joy is the presence of love for self and for others, a state of gratitude and compassion, an awareness of being connected to our higher self and being one with everything” (Jenkins 1996, p.4).
The most important human value is love and compassion. For when it is expressed in our actions it becomes the value of right conduct. Our behavior will be gentle and full of kindness. There will be consideration for others and self-sacrifice. Our actions will be full of service for humanity. When there is love and compassion in our heart, there can be no violence, anger and hatred, fear, anxiety, jealousy and other negative emotions. Then the human value of peace exists in our life and we are full of joy and smile. Life has become meaningful. When love and compassion fills our mind, the mind becomes calm and still which will activate the super-conscious. We are now filled with wisdom and understanding about life. We now understand that we are all brothers and sisters. The ego is destroyed and there is only the feeling of oneness with our fellow human beings as well as nature and the environment. These are the human values of truth and non-violence, which are the ultimate goal of the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept as displayed in Figure 3.6.
Figure 3.6 The Human Values Integrated Learning Concept
In
summary, the five human values are an integral part of the learning process
where the aim is the transformation of the learner into a good person and not
just a great person. The steps in the learning process are summarized as follows.
The Steps in the Learning Process
Stimuli are received through the five senses. The stimuli have to be interpreted into something meaningful. This is done by retrieving data from the subconscious mind which contains past experiences and memory. The conscious mind then becomes aware and understands the stimuli received. This awareness and understanding is then stored in the subconscious mind and reinforces the memory. In education, the Human Values Integrated Instruction is applied. This requires involvement of friends, teachers, parents and the community as well as the creation of an atmosphere of peace and love in the school. Human values are an integral part of all subjects and all activities in the school. Thus not only subject matters but also human values are stored in the subconscious mind. This will influence future interpretation of outside stimuli received.
A very important part of
the Human Values Integrated Instruction is to inspire the learner to
transform. This cannot be done through
the five senses of the learner alone as can be seen from Figure 3.7 but
requires the use of the sixth sense also to inspire the learner. The following
discussion is about how a teacher can inspire students so the students can be
transformed.
The teacher must be inwardly calm and peaceful. She must be full of love and compassion. She must be an example of the human values that are expected in the learner. She must speak from the heart. She radiates an aura of peace, love and compassion so that others near her will also feel peace and joy.
When a person speaks, only a small part of the total message is transmitted through the speech. The main message is non-verbal and is called the meta-message. It is the way a person looks, the facial expression, the action, the thoughts – all will contribute to the meta-message.
The Learner
Data Retrieval
Data Storage
Figure 3.7 Relationship between the Learning
Process and Human Values Integrated
Instruction
In order to transmit 100% of the message, there must be unity of thought, word and deed. What ever is spoken must coincide with the meta-message expressed through his action and his thoughts. This is especially important in the Human Values Integrated Instruction where there must also be a unity of the head (thought), the heart (conscience) and the hands (action and speech). Whatever thoughts that come to our head or our conscious mind should be examined by our heart which is the super-conscious mind or our conscience before it is put into action include our speech.
Thus when a teacher transmits 100% of the message, she does not only communicate through the five senses of the learner but also through the sixth sense which will touch the heart of the learner and inspire the learner causing the transformation process to take place.
It is to be noted here that when the mind of the learner is calm
and still, the conscious mind is raised towards the super-conscious mind and in
turn, the super-conscious mind has an effect on the sixth sense and thereby
enhance the process of inspiration which bring about a faster transformation of
the learner.
Chapter 4
Research Methodology
1. Introduction
The original concept of human values integrated learning had been
intuitively developed and used in training of teachers in Thailand as well as
internationally. This concept described in Chapter 3 had been used in the
2. Methodology
This study used several research
methodologies, i.e.: documentary research, ex post facto research and a
quasi-experimental research.
3. Research Procedure
The study consisted of 6 main phases (see Figure1.1, p.6) as follows:
Phase 1 Various Learning and
Teaching Theories used in the Development of the Model
The Human Values Integrated Instructional Model was developed from the
Human Values Integrated Learning Concept. Various learning
theories were studied. Some of the learning and
teaching theories that were compatible were then used in the development of the
Human Values Integrated Instructional model.
Objective
To
find learning and teaching theories that will be useful in the development of
the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model.
Research
Instruments
Experts were interviewed to get
their advice.
Gathering
of Data
Literature
research was made in libraries, from internet, book shops and personal loan of
books from experts.
The
following criteria are used in the selection of books/literature to be used in
the development of the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model:
· There are no conflicts with the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept.
However, certain ideas that are compatible with the concept may be used.
· The learning/teaching theories have room to promote the emergence of
human values in the learner.
· These theories must help to bring about human excellence in all areas-
physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Analysis
of Data
The
main points to be used in the development of the Human Values Integrated
Instructional Model will be extracted from the various learning/teaching theories.
Phase 2 Documentary Research on the Application of the Concept
1) Teacher Training
Between
the years 1987 and 2000, many teachers were trained in
Objective
To find out if there was a general
approval of the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept amongst teachers and
educators.
Research Instrument
Documentary
reports on the seminars and training including evaluation forms that are available.
Gathering of Data
Document
available were requested from the organizers of the seminars.
Analysis of the Data
Most
of the documents and evaluation forms available contained the following
information:
· Opinion of the teachers on the training
· Opinion of the teachers on the content of the training
· Whether what they have learnt can be applied in the classroom
· Whether what they have learnt can be used in their own life
· Suggestions for improvement of the seminars
Analysis
could then be made to find the percentage of respondents who were positive on
the first four statements. Analysis of the suggestions was also made to see
what improvement could be made.
2) Study of Sathya
Sai Schools in other countries
Documentary research focused on Sathya Sai Schools in other countries where the Human Values
Integrated Learning Concept had been put into practice in the classroom.
Objective
To
find out whether there was transformation of students, teachers and parents in
schools where the learning concept had been applied.
Research Instrument
Documents
in the form of reports about the school were used as instruments for the
research.
Gathering of Data
Data
of various schools in the form of annual reports were available at the
Analysis of Data
Information
on transformation of students, teachers and parents were extracted from the
school reports. Content analysis was made to find out whether there were
transformation taken place in students, teachers and parents. Case studies were
made. In case of children, actual names were not used as reports contained
negative behaviors.
3) Study of literature published in various languages around the world.
Objective
To
find out about the general international acceptance of the Human Values
Integrated Learning Concept.
Research
Instruments
Documents on
the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept of the researcher that appeared in
various languages in various countries.
Gathering
of Data
Documents which were translation of books
written by the researcher on the learning concept were located. Papers
published on the learning concept were found.
Analysis of Data
Analysis of general
acceptance through the use of documents related to the learning concept was
made.
Phase 3 Ex Post Facto Research at the
Ex post facto
research was conducted at the
1) Study of all the students at
the
Objective
a)
To establish what changes (emergence of the Human Values) had taken place since
the students had joined the school.
b) To find out the factors that had caused the
human values to emerge from the students.
Research Instrument
Questions:
1.
What changes have taken place since joining the
2.
What factors have caused these changes to take place?
Gathering of Data
Students
of all grades were asked to analyze themselves to find the changes that had
taken place at the
Analysis of Data
Analysis
was made to find the frequency of the changes in the primary school and the
secondary school. The answers were then categorized into the five human values. A guideline of how to sort out the answers into the 5 Human
Values is given at the end of this chapter. The research studied the factors involved and their
relative importance in the causes that have brought out the human values in the
children.
2) Study of teachers at the
The same procedure of study that
was made with the students was also carried out with the teachers of the
Objective
To
establish the changes that had taken place since joining the school and to
analyze the causes of such changes.
Research Instruments
Questions:
1.
What changes have taken place since joining the
2.
What factors have caused these changes to take place?
Gathering of Data
Teachers
were asked to write down the answers to the two questions. This was on a voluntary
basis.
Analysis of Data
Analysis
was made to find the frequency of the changes that had taken place in the
teachers. The data was sorted into the 5 human Values using the guideline given
at the end of this chapter. Analysis was made on the factors involved and their relative importance in the causes that
have brought out the human values in the teachers.
3) Study of former students of
the
A study was made on ex-students of the
Objective
To find out whether the
human values the former students had obtained from the
Research Instrument
The
research instrument used was questionnaire with open ended answers to establish
the human values the students had obtained from the
To study the
effects of the new environment on the students, a different type of
questionnaire was used where statements were made and students had to chose whether they agreed with the statements.
Gathering of Data
Questionnaires
were sent by mail to the former students to solicit answers.
Analysis of Data
Analysis was made to find the frequency of the
changes that took place at the
From
the second questionnaire, analysis was made to study the effect of the new
environment on the student’s behavior.
4) Study of former students of
the Sathya Sai Schools
through the parents
Parents
were asked to participate in the study of their children who had spent some
time at the
Objective
To find out from parents if they felt
that their children had benefited from their stay at the
Research Instrument
Questionnaire
was used.
Gathering of Data
Questionnaires
were sent out by mail to parents.
Analysis of Data
From the answers given, the five Human
Values that the children had as a result of the stay in the school were
extracted.
5) Study of former adult foreign
students of the
A study was made also on adult
teachers who have come from other countries to be trained in the Human Values Integrated
Concept.
Objective
To
find out whether transformation had taken place during their stay at the
Research Instrument
Self study
report in the form of open ended questions
Gathering of Data
The questionnaires
were e-mailed to the teachers around the world. Responses were also received
through the e-mail.
Analysis of Data
From the
response, an analysis was made to see the percentage of the teachers that were
transformed. Since this group of teachers consisted of experience teachers,
they could give a more vivid description of their transformation. Thus quotes
of their answers would give a better picture. An analysis of the causes was
also made.
Phase 4 Development of the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model
Based on the
studies carried out in the previous phases, the Human Values Integrated
Instructional Model will be developed. In developing the model, the objectives
must first be clearly defined. In defining the objectives, the Human Values
Integrated Learning Concept will be considered as well as the School mission
statement. The research on the various learning and teaching
theories in phase 1, the documentary research in phase 2, the ex post facto
research in phase 3 and the Human Values Integrated Learning Concept are used
to define the following in the development of the Human Values Integrated
Instructional Model.
(1) objectives
(2) the components
involved: principles,
roles, and activities
as for example: the school climate or atmosphere, teachers,
school administrators, staff of the school, parents and the local community.
(3) the
inter-relationship between all the components.
The School Mission
is the vision of the school, a clear statement of what the school or
institution intends to achieve.
With
regards to the understanding of learners/students, as the aim of this
instructional model is to bring out human values from every child/student
throughout society, there will be children from diverse background. The
learners may be rich or poor. They may come from a good family or a broken
family. They may have different cultures and traditions or different religions.
The behaviors of the students may be largely different. These differences have
to be understood and a variety of different methods of instruction need to be
considered. Evaluation of students has to be suitable for the diverse and
different background of the students.
Phase 5 Presentation
of the Human Values Integrated Instructional Model to Teachers
and Educators
The
Human Values Integrated Instructional Model was presented to
teachers and educators as well as monks/clergies to obtain their feedback on
the Model. One-day seminars were
given to teachers/educators from various regions of
Objective
To obtain a public approval of the developed Human Values Integrated
Instructional Model and feedback from teachers and
educators. The feed back would then be used to modify the model as necessary.
Research Instrument
Questionnaires
were used (Appendix 1 and 2).
Gathering of Data
Questionnaires
were distributed at the end of the seminars and are collected back before the
participants left.
Analysis of Data
Details
of the background of the participants were obtained, eg.
Sex, education, profession. This information was
expressed in percentage of the total. Analysis will indicate in terms of
percentage of the participants who have understood the model, who can apply
this in their classroom, and who will apply this model in their profession and
their own life.
Phase 6 Test of the Human Values Integrated
Instructional Model on Students
The
Human Values Integrated Instructional Model was tested for a
period of 10 hours on children and students as follows:
At the basic level
of education, a school in the rural area of Lopburi Province.
At the university
level, Chulalongkorn University.
1) Test of the Model on 2nd
year undergraduate at the Faculty of Education,
Objective
a) To observe any changes in the attitude or
transformation taking place in the student after the treatment of the
Instructional Model so as to provide evidence for the effectiveness of the
Model.
b) To find out whether the students have a
good understanding of the Model and are able to apply the Model in classes and
in their own life.
Research Instrument
Pretest and posttest were used. In both cases, the students were asked to
write an answer to a simple question: “What do you want most in your life?”
There was also another questionnaire
given at the end of the course (Appendix 1)to see if
the students had understood the Model and could apply it in a class and in
their life.
Gathering of Data
In the first class, the pretest was made
and the students wrote their answers which were collected. In the final class,
the posttest was performed together with an additional questionnaire.
Analysis of the
Data
The pretest and the posttest were
analyzed and quantified into scores using established criteria. The criteria
were based on a scale of 0 to 10. A student who desired everything for oneself
only will score 0 marks. Top score of 10 was obtained when the student reached
a desireless state or complete detachment from the
world. For the whole class, an average score was calculated for the pretest and
the posttest and the percentage change was taken. This would then give an indication
of the change in attitude of the class as a whole.
The other questionnaire given out at the
final session was to test their understanding of the Model and to see whether
they feel that they are able to apply the Model in classes as well as in their
own life. Their answers were converted
into scores. Each answer, the student would choose one of the following answers:
very much, much, fair, little, or none. This would then be converted into
scores of 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively. Analysis of the class was done by
taking the percentage of the maximum score which would then be an indication of
the understanding or the ability to apply what they had learnt in classes or in
their own life.
2) Test conduct at
One of the 5th grade classes
was chosen by the school for the test with another class in the same grade
chosen to be the control group.
Objective
To observe the behavior of the children
in the treated class as compared with the control class. Positive changes in
the treated class would indicate the effectiveness of the Model at the primary
level of education.
Research instrument
A questionnaire that had been used by
teachers and parents at the
There was a pretest and a posttest using
the same questionnaire.
Gathering of Data
At the beginning of the instruction, the
class teachers of the treated class and the control class were asked to
evaluate the students in their respective classes. The children also evaluated
themselves using the same questionnaire. The children were asked to take back
home one set of questionnaire for their parents to evaluate. The posttest was
carried out in the same way at the final session of the period of instruction.
Analysis of Data
The change in the average score of the
children in the treated class was compared with the change in the average score
of the children in the control class. This will indicate the changes in the
behavior of children in the treated class as compared with the children in the
control class. Analysis is given in the form of percentage change.
Measurement of the Five Human Values
As already
discussed, the research instruments will consist of questionnaires, observation by parents, teachers and the
students themselves. To evaluate the
five human values in the students, observation of the qualities of each of the
five values have to be made. The following guideline for the qualities to be
observed are adapted from the
handbook for teachers written earlier by the researcher (Jumsai, A. and
Burrows, L. 1991. pp.129 – 135).
Truth:
Speak the truth; see good in all; optimism,
curiosity; study harder; learning better; quest for knowledge; creativity; unity of thought, word and deed; search for truth within; detachment; discrimination between what we should and should not do;
self-honesty; discrimination between what is real and unreal; good
reasoning; careful thinking; self awareness; self-analysis;
discrimination between what is right and wrong;independent thinking; oneness; be prepared to accept the truth; planning of life;
understanding of the purpose of life; solving problems in life; faith in
religion; constant integrated awareness; meditation; self realization;
enlightenment..
Right
Conduct: Speak only what is good and useful; not indulge in
gossip; not indulging in gossip; not speaking ill of others; speak in
moderation; speak softly and sweetly; speak politely; not
stealing; not breaking a promise; not to quarrel; not killing; honesty
and integrity; good manners; good behavior; good attitude; good example; good
character; work with responsibility; discipline; work with enthusiasm;
determination; work with sincerity; do one’s duty to the best of one’s ability;
only do honest work; being able to take care
of oneself; self reliance; deportment; health and hygiene;
cleanliness; tidiness; punctuality; courage; know the value of saving;
helpfulness; not taking advantage of others; good nutrition; teamwork;
friendliness; respect for parents, teachers,
elders and benefactors; obedience; understand the danger
of harmful habits; regularity; respect for others;
humility; responsibility; proper use of free time; proper use of money; abstain
from addiction; initiative; how to be a good leader and a good follower;
politeness; love in action.
Peace:
Think before speaking/doing; not
getting angry; forgiveness; control anger; control greed; control of emotions; self control; good effort; good
health; promote good habits; contentment; patience; simplicity; self-confidence; more focused; devotion;
love for peace; purity; joy; self-sacrifice; broadmindedness;
satisfaction; beware of self-deception; self-respect;
silent sitting; calmness; peace; inner contentment or happiness; concentration;
better memory; correct rhythmic breathing; introspection;
positive thinking; stillness (inner and outer); love for peace; equanimity;
bliss.
Love:
Speak lovingly; helping others; friendship; kindness; dedication; consideration; gentleness; sympathy
and empathy; sharing; giving; unselfishness; generosity; compassion;
love for all; concern for others; selfless service; good
relationship with others; willing to serve others; love for all living beings;
love for humanity; humanism; universal love.
Non-violence:
Use good language; speak from the heart; good
communications with everyone; understanding person; non-violence;
not hurting others; harmony; know the danger of playing
with dangerous toys; avoid playing with dangerous things; avoid
conflict; discriminate with view to watching television, books, cartoons, and internet; not doing harm to any living thing; respect for public property; tolerance;
not wasting money; not wasting electricity/ water; not
wasting food; not wasting time; unity; ceiling on desires; appreciate when
others are successful; courtesy; democracy; social justice;
equality; human rights; patriotism; concern for all life; being a good
citizen; sense of social service; sense of social responsibility; appreciation
of other cultures; respect for all religions; love of nature; wider world view;
see the world in a positive light; brotherhood of man; learning
to live with others; cooperation; caring for the environment; environment
conservation.
It is to
be noted here that sub-values may overlap and appear in more than one of the
Human Values depending on the age of the students and the context as for
example the word “concentration”. In smaller children, concentration could mean
focusing on some activities which could be part of the Human Values of right
conduct. However, in older children, concentrating the mind so as to calm the
mind, then it is the Human Value of peace. In some students, it could be deep
concentration of the mind which could mean meditation, then
it will become part of the Human Values of truth.