JIVA Educational Pathway

CHRONOLOGICAL PATHWAY
(or re-education for mature age on line learning)

from human values to leaving school PRE-UNIVERSITY (19 to 21 years of age)

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PRE-TEENS (esp. before 13 years of age)

Sathay Sai Baba Educare Program with 5 Methods & 5 Human Values

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TEENS (13 to 17 year of age)

Association by 5 Cross Reference Subject Learning (non-exam stream/ego-centric learning) conducted by EHV teachers using Tables to become educationalists in provoking students to form mind mapping skills that have a cross over synthesizing effect to all subjects inter-relationship

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LATE TEENS (17 to 18 years)

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

Creativity (Theisis & research), Action (Survivor Course) & Service (eg. Orphanage and aid projects)

(5) Western Philosophy

= i) Metaphysics, ii) Ethics, iii) Aethestics, iv) Logic & v) Theory of Knowledge

v.) Theory of Knowledge & Logic

(Skeptical Learning via the Baccalaureate for independent thinking)

Scientific => Research Methods & Thesis

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(19-20 years old)

CATEGORISATION (labeling known concepts) - triangle of learning (6th chakra)

iv. Logic = Science = Theoretical Categories

iii. Aesthetics = Arts = Historical Categories

ii. Ethics = Humanities = Geographical Categories=> AID PROJECTS (2 months)

= with business plan & FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE training

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TRAVEL(2 months) = overseas

MONASTRY (2 months) = retreat, silence, vipasana, yoga, diet, exercise, contemplation, meditation

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i. Metaphysics (2 months)

= Indian (Sankhya, Vastu, Yogic, Ayurveda, Jyotisha) Buddist, Hebrew, Greek metaphysics eg sacred geometry, note & number

(YOGA VEDANTA &) SELF INQUIRY (2 months)

= Who am I? Metaphysical religion of identity (Vedanta - dualism to ajata)

2 months WORK EXPERIENCE

(Jiva5 Projects?! => health, education, entertainment = eg. work at café, club, supermarket, mall etc.)

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COMMUNITY NATIONAL SERVICE (1 year)

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UNIVERSITY OR WORK

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EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK

EDUCATIONAL REFORM PROPOSAL FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

THE “EDU-CREATE” PROPOSAL

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From EDU-CARE (Heart) to EDU-CREATE (Hands) to EDU-CATE (Head)
3HV (Values) “The End of Education is Character”

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Educational reforms for greater character and creativity in secondary schools

CONTENTS

1. Educational reforms: Singapore, globalization & the knowledge based economy

2. Aim & Objective

3. Definitions: Edu-Create, Character & Creativity

4. Associative Learning

5. Introduction to Edu-Create Model

6. What are the limitations of modern education?

7. Why is a creative alternative required?

8. THE EDU-CREATE PROPOSAL

9. Guidelines for a Syllabus

Association of 5 (5 L’s, 5 methods, 5 questions)

A diagnostic approach to learning

Edu-create’s mind model (5-6 components)

De Bono’s parallel thinking and 6 hats

7 Associative Model Stages

10. From Edu-care to Edu-create to higher Edu-cate => Education

Edu-care (Human Values Emotions -EHV)
Edu-create (Creativity and Concrete – Associative Tool)
Higher Edu-cate (Abstract – Theory of Knowledge)
Edu-create (continued)

11. Edu-create’s Weekly Theme Formats (5 Sessions)

12. Cross-referencing of Subject Learning

13. A Progressive Edu-create Syllabus Outline Model

14. Associative Tools : - Planetary symbols & metaphoric language

- Astro-psychology of morals

15. “Spiritualized” Education

16. Long-term Plan

17. Conclusion

Appendix: 1) DeBono 6 Hats 2) Career Questionnaire

3) History of Philosophy & Science & Arts

4) Introduction to Metaphysics & Vedanta

VENN-DIAGRAMS (V-D)

V-D 1: - Edu-create between Creativity & Character

V-D 2:- Edu-create Model

V-D 3:- Practical Living (How) between Mainstream Exam Learning (What) & Edu-creates’ Non-exam Lives (Who), Life (Why) & Lessons

V-D 4:- Edu-create Summary Diagram

V-D 5:- Summary Diagram of Edu-care, Edu-create & Edu-cate (Education)

V-D 6 Associative Tools to Education

V-D 7 Practical Spirituality

TABLES

Table 1 15 Core Syllabus Subjects

Table 2 Extra-secular Topic Groups

Table 3 3 Stages of Edu-create Streaming

Table 4 7 Types of learners into 4 groups

Table 5 Edu-create Foundation Table: 5 L’s and 5 Questions

Table 6 3 Streams (Main/Edu-create, Character, Elective)

Table 7 5 types of knowledge & the 3 streams

Table 8 Upward channeling of energies

Table 9 Cross-referencing Subjects into Group Categories

Table 10 Trinity of Parallels between Group Categories

Table 11 Egocentric Triangle of Learning

Table 12 Character Stream Categories

Table 13 Self-Inquiry

Table 14 Parallel Syllabus Model Outline, Education Model Pathway Summary & Numerological Learning Box

1. Educational reforms: Singapore, globalization & the knowledge based economy

New Reforms

Over the last couple of decades, Singapore has powered itself onto the world stage as a leading economic force, with few competitors in its region, to become a political hub for trade with leading world governments like America and the U.K. Towards the end of the last millennium, China, India and Malaysia have opened up their economies with many of these and other leading corporate nations’ MNCs choosing these awakening giants to base their companies. They are either leaving Singapore, with its strong dollar, for these more cost efficient cheaper alternatives, or not entering Singapore into their plans. In the process Singapore has had to reform its development strategies from its heavy manufacturing sector towards adjusting to the changing needs and demands of the global knowledge based economy.

IT and technology, research and development in the life sciences and high skill services (such as an international state of the art health and international education) have been gaining precedence with Singapore’s policymaking and head ministers. In doing so, the Government has focused its attention on fostering and funding these new knowledge assets to run its future economy, and has had to reform a lot of its policies to promote more public initiative and involvement; realizing that the knowledge base economy relies on the innovation and entrepreneurship of its people.

With their strong centralized control, efficient infrastructure and small population, the Government, in the past, has been able to effectively meet challenges and make changes through adjusting their meticulous organized and controlled economic system. However, now it requires making reforms to the educational system to produce the innovation and business enterprise to manufacture ideas from within Singapore itself. The people have to become more creative and intelligent. No longer can education be as utilitarian and functionally focused for people to fill the skill and labor sectors, relying heavily on foreign talent to lead its professional and business sectors. Today, the government has to implement reforms that hand more incentive and power to the people to become leaders. Through their ingenuity, the future leaders will propel Singapore more creatively onto the economic world arena. For this, creative teachers and educators have to be inspired and not manufactured.

This poses a challenge that requires a complete transformation of the psyche, self-confidence and thinking of the nation, and not just through the economic means of money and its methods. Singaporeans and the Singaporean educational system has to be examined and revised in a holistic context to produce more creative citizens with a global vision that can make the Singaporean people a leading intellectual force powering their nations economics. This is the challenge that the Edu-create along with the 9 Government proposals attempt to meet through their various visions and models offered for the government to consider.

Brief outline of Singapore’s development

Colonial rule, 1959 independence, young country, 1st generation population, 3rd to 1st world economy within couple of decades, multi-cultural, majority Chinese, earlier civil and communist fractions, surrounded by Muslim resource rich countries, one party rule, democratic government, centralized autocratic process, powerful vision and leadership, government housing development flat ownership, meticulous planning schemes, vested interests and controls throughout establishment, stringent political laws and media and public censorship, run like a business (e.g. SIA), aggressive and hard work ethic, no welfare, national military service, no natural resources, strong bilateral ties with US and Britain, developed from attracting MNCs, developed manufacturing industry (small arms, NS etc), large labor and factory force, relying on mentoring from expatriate and foreign work force for leadership and knowledge.

EDUCATION model based on the British system.

More competitive => utilitarian and functional education, science and technical base, large classrooms, few teachers, material goals, basic infrastructure, inadequate history, experience, role models, and quality of teachers and teaching methods
After secondary school => Military (reservist) National Service => employment /jobs largely in skilled labor and manufacturing / factories => CPF savings => strong government restrictions, controls and influence => no welfare, fears and financial security, economic struggle, competition and survival, cultural expectations => parental, marriage, many children => (HDB mortgage) => many obligations, high living costs and expenses, chasing the material dream, challenging and aggressive rat race.

Singapore by the end of the Millennium

International hub for the region, one of the largest and best ports and airports in the world, country built and upgraded from cheap labor from surrounding poorer region, clean, strict laws, highly modern and efficient transport and infrastructure, second highest paid ministers, hand-picked, transparency, no corruption, extremely wealthy reserves, international investments, strong trade agreements, globally recognized, strong dollar, state of the art health and educational faculties
EDUCATION still based on British, extremely competitive and tough, extra tuition, quota systems for studies, advanced Universities and Technologies, more modern infrastructure but same utilitarian and functional approach. Still focused on science, technology and rote learning. High international concrete academic achievements. Low innovation and enterprise. Little entrepreneurship. Best ideas and people recruited by government. Central control and market dominance.

Educational Reforms beginning. Introduction of International baccalaureate at secondary schools. Slowly significant changes to improve innovation in Singapore => 9 GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS including “EDU-CREATE” EDUCATIONAL REFORM PROPOSAL

2. Aim & Objective

“Edu-create’s objective is to instigate educational reforms in the current models and systems used and practiced in most secondary schools. This proposal will boldly attempt to revise the systems by introducing a model that encompasses and amalgamates a new and more creative, alternative solution towards subject learning into the mainstream approaches existing in the schooling systems.

Most significantly, it suggests introducing, in 3 stages, a non-exam stream class pathway for “weak” or “uninteresting” subjects. This would be developed within the syllabus timetable, to promote an inquiry-orientated emphasis to education with significant and practical applications related to the challenges of “real” adult life. Creativity and associative learning is encouraged to allow students to cross-reference their subjects to a broader knowledge base. This knowledge includes exposing students to advanced subjects, topics and professions not usually inquired into or made relevant until tertiary levels of education. Students will thereby receive a more holistic and relevant understanding and perspective of their syllabus material.

In addition, Edu-create fuels their enthusiasm, inspiration and creativity by helping students learn the implications of their secular subjects, and therefore, their ability to manipulate and apply the knowledge more intelligently in the classroom. In turn, this will lend a long-term vision and ability to innovate by networking their knowledge at an earlier stage than a normal non-creative education. Edu-create illustrates and outlines, through the various Venn-diagrams charts and tables, as to how its progressive model be adopted, adapted and integrated in schools and secondary education.

The aim of the model is to increase, with succeeding chronological stages of late primary up to pre-university levels of education, greater creativity and character to meet the demands and challenges of the emerging global, knowledge-based economy.

3. Definitions: Edu-Create, Character & Creativity

Education = Character, Will-power & Equanimity

= Human Values (truth & right action, love & peace, non-violence) +
+ Knowledge (self-understanding) + Skill (practice)

Creativity = Associative Learning

Edu- create => is an educational reform (to the syllabus content and structure) in secondary schools that lends greater creativity and character to students educational experience, development and performance.

For greater creativity, Edu-create uses the associative learning process to cross-reference subject learning between school topic material, granting a greater perspective on the implications and application of knowledge learnt (manipulation).

For greater character, it promotes an (egocentric) independent and (free thinking) values-orientated approach through giving subject learning greater personal relevance, significance, life meaning, and thereby promoting integrity and honesty within the student’s character.

4. Associative Learning (A technical definition)

Associative learning means adding to any learning process by making intellectual, tentative, lateral, symbolic associations and observations between or within a topic matter. It allows for tolerance in error probabilities and creative possibilities. It opens cerebral space for parallel and synthesized synaptic networking, disciplines for a hemispheric and hierarchical integration, and it promotes pattern detection and inductive revelation. In short, it uses associative (hippocampus short term memory capacity) learning and symbolic categorization (overall synaptic brain wiring towards long term memory) of topic matters, and promotes creative, independent thinking. The process involves conceptual inquiry, and relies significantly on leaps of inductive logic and analytical associations, with regressive deductive testing of observations made to confirm premises and assumptions that form the basis of the theoretical.


5. Introduction to Edu-Create Model

Good emotions and human values are inculcated in the pre-teen years from role models such as parents and teachers. This prepares a “happy and mentally clear” child for the more concrete levels of learning during teenage years. The Edu-create model focuses on these teenage years, emphasizing the above-mentioned creative learning approach to cross reference subject learning between mainstream secular subjects, encouraging greater inquiry and investigation by students. In addition, through psychological self-referral (ego-centric) methods, and by having the students subjectively investigate and associate their learning relevance to themselves, Edu-create will also lend direct personal significance to secular learning. This will generate greater interest, emotion (limbic system – maintaining long term memory capacity) and enthusiasm for learning in students. In tandem with the main objective, which is the concrete learning approach of their secular school syllabus, and a greater practical approach to class subjects and the adult challenges of living, the Edu-create system will also prepare students for the more complex abstract levels of reasoning and innovation in later teen years (See VD 2).

6. What are the limitations of modern education?

Too much rote learning stifling creativity
Functional; with subjects taught only for making a living and not for enriching and facing the experiences of a balanced life
Narrow; being limited to academics and fixed secular subjects
Early streaming that lacks holistic appreciation of each student’s unique learning development
Not integrated or taught in relationship to and in context with other subjects and later professions
Not meaningful or given the necessary perspective or relevance to life’s challenges
Lacking human relevance with subjects not taught in relation to the students or the broader humanities
No focus on character building and leadership necessary to meet temptations and trappings of worldly life
Not enough practical applications to later daily life
Not enough creative inquiry
Not enough learning by doing
Not flexible in giving students more choices and avenues for learning more diverse subject options

7. Why is a creative alternative required?

The future knowledge-based global economy depends more and more on innovation where increasingly knowledge is the real asset, property and power in the economics of countries

Humanitarian approaches complimented with a long-term global vision and thinking, are increasingly required in a world where cultures, religions and races are crossing barriers.

Leadership, sensitivity, character and integrity will be increasingly valued in this hierarchical, technological and complex world with its potential for more subtle forms of corruption