Organise: Gandhi Vidya Mandir, IASE University, Sardarshahr

1. INAUGURATION AND BACKDROP
1.1 The Second Pre-Seminar Workshop in the context of the International Seminar on “Teacher Education for Peace and Harmony” was organized in the Conference Room No.1,India International Centre Annexe, Lodhi Road, New Delhi on 14th January, 2012.  The Workshop was presided over by Shri. M.K. Kaw, Former Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).  A   list of participants is at Annexure – I.

1.2 Shri. Kanak Mal Dugar, President, Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan welcomed the Chairperson and the participants.  He began the proceedings of the workshop with the usual prayer of the Gandhi Vidya Mandir.  In this prayer, individuals wish for their own peace and peaceful coexistence of all in the world.  He felt that outcomes of this workshop would prove useful in shaping the Teacher Education Curriculum with focus on individual’s peace and the global peace and harmony.

1.3 The paper of Prof. N.K. Ambasht, Pro-Vice Chancellor, IASE Deemed University, Sardarshahr formed the basis of discussion in this workshop.  It presented three scenarios about requirement of the teacher education curriculum.

• The First Model envisages a separate course for ingraining peace and harmony in the learner.
• The Second Model suggests introduction of a paper on peace and harmony at M.Ed. and M.Phil levels.
• The Third Model seeks to integrate content on peace and harmony in the existing curriculum of teacher education.

The author of the paper feels that if the third model is adopted then the following steps would be needed.

Inclusion of two compulsory papers in the theory part of the course design.

• Educational philosophies of various religions and emphasizing a common core of peaceful and harmonious living.
• Integrate components of peace and harmony in the existing papers.

It would need to redesign concurrently educational management and school organization.The practical work for continuous and comprehensive evaluation ( CCE) may include projects on promoting peace and harmony in different sections of the society, man and       animal, man and environment etc.  Further, the work experience should include working in the community for peace and harmony.

1.4   The participants in the workshop gave several suggestions about the need and justification for inclusion of content on peace and harmony in the curricula for Teacher Education, Methodology to respond to this task through desirable inputs, teaching- learning strategies, cooperation, coordination and networking of various concerned organization, training of personnel, and wider infusion of the new materials and methods into the system of teacher education in particular and that of school education and community education in general.  Highlights of the discussion and suggestions given in the workshop are as follows:

2. Need and Justification of Teacher Education for Peace and Harmony

In the history of mankind, the period of last 200-300 years remained the period of more turbulence, conflicts, hatred, wars, terrorist activities etc, in spite of phenomenal materialistic progress and several initiatives for natural and global peace and peaceful co-existence.  It is a very disturbing state of affairs.  Corrective measures are required to be taken on various fronts to bring peace and harmony within individuals, among individuals and groups and at local, National and International levels through educational and other means.

Some pinpricking aspects in our lives today are lack of peace and harmony, negligence in work culture, distancing of new generation from their cultural roots/ethics, degradation in the institutions of family and marriage, commercialization of education, lack of compassion etc.

Realizing that ‘teacher’ has to play a very significant role in making the child /youth a good individual and a useful member of the society, there is an urgent need to reorient the teacher education programe in the country to provide appropriate responses to the educational and socio-cultural challenges to bring peace and harmony in the society. 

3. Suggested Methodology for incorporating the concepts of peace and harmony in the Teacher Education Programme

Define and elaborate the concepts of peace and harmony.
Draw content on peace and harmony from scriptures of various religions with the safe guard that mainly secular content is used /included in textual materials for teacher education courses.
The content on peace and harmony may also be drawn from thoughts and writings of    thinkers, philosophers and other great men/women
The reference of work done on some projects and work of some spiritual organizations was given in the present meeting.  Some of these are as follows:

• Report of the project conducted by Prof. R.P. Sharma for NCTE.
• Work done in NCERT on Value Education.
• Work done in NIOS on Value Education.
• Work done by institutions/organizations of Satya Shri Sai Baba, Brahma Kumaris, Ramakrishna Mission etc.
• Work done in National/International conferences on values organized by
  (i) the Indian Institute of Philosophical Research and
  (ii) International Seminar on Democracy in Panchgani, Maharashtra
• Work done by Shri. M.K. Kaw on Value Education.

         The IASE University may take the following steps

• Integrate content on Peace and Harmony in the curriculum, materials and methods of its Teacher Education Programme.  These concepts may be included as Core Concepts.
• IASE University may start a Certificate Course and Diploma Course in Education for Peace and Harmony.  These courses may be open for all and not simply for students.  The content of these courses may be prepared meticulously with the help of expertise drawn from various quarters.  These courses may be extensively publicized.
• Anecdotes in respect of heroes of various countries may be included in the materials.  The local heroes may also be taken care of.  Success stories of various kinds that may be explicitly and implicitly related to the concepts of peace and harmony may also be included.
• Inculcation of the spirit of “Pardon” in individuals would prove to be conducive for peace and harmony.  This concept may also find place in the content.
• There are instances when several institutions/organizations helped a lot at the time of disasters.  The work done by the IASE University students and teachers during “Tsunami” and by the teachers and students of the Regional College of Education (NCERT), Bhopal during Bhopal Gas Tragedy was quoted as significant examples.  The work done by students during such calamites/disasters, even at the cost of their studies and health, may also be mentioned as examples in the textual material.  The voluntary work done by the Gujarat Vidyapeeth under their projects in Gram Shivir, Gram Shilpy etc, was also mentioned.  Such projects were organized by the students in the community taking recourse to ‘Pad Yatra’, cleaning of villages, participation in Gram Sabha activities etc.

Certain curriculum related suggestions:

• The IASE University may take initiative to take appropriate steps for operationalising the following suggestions.  In the B.Ed Course paper on working with community, incorporate peace and harmony in the Internship Programme.  The students may under take some projects in peace and harmony.
• The concepts of peace and harmony may also be included in the B.Ed paper on “Education in Emerging Society:.
• The concepts of peace and harmony may be included in the curriculum ensuring contextually i.e. wherever needed.  Efforts need not be made to include these concepts deliberately or inadvertently without taking note of contextually.
• Paper on Methods: Give appropriate treatment of ‘peace and harmony’ in teaching of Science and Social Sciences.
• The “Framework of Evaluation” may also include assessment of students in respect of the concepts of peace and harmony.
• Appropriate linkage of the curricula of Teacher Education and the curricula of School Education may be ensured.
• In the Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education, orientation/training programmes and other inputs of the scheme may also be extended to the Self Financing Teacher Education Institutions.  The IASE University may consider offering an optional paper on peace and harmony in B.Ed and M.Ed courses.  Material of good quality may be prepared as curriculum transactional strategy.

4. Training of Personnel:

• That IASE University may prepare a programme of Training of Personnel on matters related to “Teacher Education for Peace and Harmony”. About 20-25 Resource Persons    (RPs) may be prepared first in this context. The training programmes may be organized in teachers training colleges/institutes and in schools. The training programmes may be backed by a “Training Package” which may be prepared meticulously.  There is an urgent need for imparting training to the Heads of the educational institutions (Principals / Head Masters).
• The programmes on peace and harmony may be offered both off-line and on-line.

6. Some General observations / suggestions 

• Knowledge of India’s heritage may be studied in proper perspective.  There are universal values of serving others, compassion, righteousness, honesty, love etc., mentioned in the Vedas.  Therefore, these should be read in proper perspective.
• There is a need to expand the area of operation in educational materials about value based life.  For example, include in the curriculum and materials lives of great men/women.
• A Unit/Cell for performing coordination and clearing house functions in the context of human values may be set up in the IASE University.  A Newsletter for International networking may be brought out periodically be IASE University. 
• The Teacher Training Institutions may organize frequently lectures of intellectuals from values oriented organizations like the Ramakrishna Mission.  Such interaction will prove immensely helpful for students and teachers.
• In the context of values inculcation programmes, the concepts like peace, harmony, values, rights, democracy need to be defined properly as a first task.  The Indian Literature Scriptures etc.   will prove useful in this regard. The conceptual clarity about these terms will go a long way to operationalize the programmes on human values for students, teachers and adults.
• In the context of teaching of human values, there is a need to have broad view.  Among other things, local culture may also be given due importance.
• The abstract concepts related to human values in the National Curriculum Framework need to be clarified /elaborated.
• The teacher education curriculum may inter alia include ‘educational study visits’ of pupil teachers and teacher educators.
• The aspects of value education and peace education may be presented as integration of content in the textual material, not a separate subject.
• A ‘Peace Centre’ may be set up in the IASE University.
• On occasions like ‘Human Rights Day’ instead of organizing lectures, the institutions should organize group discussions and presentations based on outcomes of discussion may be made.  Workshops on Conflicts Resolutions or Conflicts Prevention may also be organized.
• A reference was given about the suggestion of the Supreme Court about inclusion of basic features of all religions in the curriculum of school education.
• The duration of B.Ed course may be two years.

7. Organizational Aspects of the Seminar

• Various matters related to the organizational aspects of the International Seminar on Peace and Harmony were discussed.  The suggestions were noted by Prof. Puran Chand,  Advisor IASE University. These suggestions related to:
•  Items of discussion in various sessions
• Scrutiny of papers:  Some papers may be found not suitable for presentation. The  authors of such papers may be given chance for poster presentation.
• The abstracts of the papers may be got edited and a compendium of the abstracts of the papers may be prepared for distribution in the conference.
• The authors of the selected papers may be informed about method of presentation, time allotted and time for discussion.
• After the seminar, steps may be taken to bring out the Seminar Report as early as possible.  It may include proceedings of the seminar, edited (selected) papers, and recommendations of the seminar.
• The recommendations of the seminar may be suitably communicated to the Government, UGC etc.
• In each plenary session, report of the earlier sessions may be presented.

8. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.