Framework for education_based_on_gurbani - Gurinder Pal Singh (Vichaar)

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Education: A Framework According to Gurbani

Gurinder Pal Singh

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw ] vihgurU jI kI Piqh ]

Gurbani Vichhar Program Chardikalaa Foundation and

Sikh Gurdwara San Jose, California June 1, 2014

06/01/2014 (C)Gurinder Pal Singh

Some Background

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A few years back the Sikh Foundation, Palo Alto was toying with a plan to open

an advanced school for Sikh Children in Merced, in collaboration with the UC

Merced. UC Merced invited them to come and make a presentation about it

Dr. Kapany took Tejinder Singh, our young son along for the presentation. There

Tejinder spontaneously came up with the statement “Sikhs and Education are a

natural fit. Guru Nanak the Founder of Sikh religion was the greatest

teacher ever born…”.

The education that Guru Nanak started, brought about a religious, social and

political revolution in its wake. It is because of this we renamed our Khalsa School

as “Guru Nanak Khalsa School”

Some Stereotypes about Sikhs 1. Sikhs are good farmers

2. Sikhs are a Martial race

3. Sikhs are hard working

4. Sikhs know how to enjoy life

5. But …Sikhs and Education….have not been connected


Education and Gurbani

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ਵਿਵਿਆ ਵੀਚਾਰੀ ਤਾਂ ਪਰਉਪਕਾਰੀ ॥ Contemplate and reflect upon knowledge, and you

will become a benefactor to others. ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦੀ ਵਿਵਿਆ ਵੀਚਾਰੈ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਪਾਵੈ ਮਾਨੁ ॥ By Guru's Grace, contemplate spiritual knowledge;

read it and study it, and you shall be honored.

Gurbani and lives of our Gurus are source of Spiritual

Knowledge and enlightenment. We will examine if the

methods employed in Gurbani are applicable to other

fields of education.


Aspects of Education

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Knowledge

Delivery

Knowledge

Content

Stages of

Accomplishment

Education should lead to overall development of human potential

Results should be measurable and visible. Today we will focus on

Knowledge Delivery


Knowledge delivery

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1. Use of mother tongue

2. Poetry, Rhymes

3. Repititions

4. Graphical Presentation

5. Quantification

6. Singing and Music

7. Listening

8. Letters

9. Role of Teacher/Mentor (Guru)

10. Role of Class (Sangat)

11. Learning by Questioning

12. Role of Practice

13. Education is for everyone

Knowledge has many dimensions and no one

method can describe it completely.


Use of Poetry, Rhymes

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• Pleasing to the ears. Makes education fun and colorful

• Nursery rhymes develop vocabulary and imagination

• Makes easy to remember facts

• Generally used for emotional information (right brain

info), use on the factual or reasoning information (left

brain info) is lagging.

1. Poetry writing is treated as a natural gift • Sikh Gurus were great Poets

2. Poetry writing classes are not common • Can computers be programmed to convert text

into poem?( many uses for such an app!)

3. Sikhs/Punjabis are good at writing poetry. Should

redirect their talent for education.


Repetition

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In Sri Guru Granth Sahib, each message is

repeated many times

• Repetition helps in memorization

• Deeper understanding

• Helps in imbibing the underlying message

• Aristotle wrote “It is frequent repetition

that produces natural tendency”

Scientific research shows that repetitions

help develop the Associative Memory


Graphical Presentation

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Graphical tools were not available at time of Guru Sahibs, but Guru

Nanak Dev Ji brilliantly used words to describe his thoughts

graphically, e.g.

ggn mY Qwl riv cMdu dIpk bny qwirkw mMfl jnk moqI ] DuUpu mlAwnlo pvxu cvro kry sgl bnrwie PulMq joqI ] jW, so dru kyhw so Gru kyhw ijqu bih srb smwly ]..

A picture is worth thousand words. Benefits of graphics or graphic

language in communicating knowledge cannot be overemphasized.


Quantification

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Guru Sahiban were very aware of assigning even quantitative

values qualities of their subject of worship. Of course for

Waheguru it was always zero, infinite, priceless or

indescribable e.g.

srgun inrgun inMrkwr, sMun smwDI Awip ] jW qumrI giq imiq qum hI jwnI jW Amul gux Amul vpwr Quantification is an important aspect of education. Gurbani

does not ignore it.


Singing and Music

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Gurbani is organized in Ragas. Keertan or singing Gurbani

is the principle mode of worship for Sikhs.

Modern research supports that music and mindful singing

exercises and improves all aspects of brain.

Singing and music are

also part of other religious

traditions. Secular

education does not make

adequate use of it.

Sikhs/Punjabis have a

great talent for music and

singing. This should be

exploited for knowledge

delivery.


Listening and Imbibing/Practicing

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Hearing is a physical phenomena.

Listening is mindful hearing.

Gurbani lays great emphasis on Listening and Practicing (suxIAY Aqy mMnIAY) Listening improves mental focus.

Practicing builds up the actual skills.

Both are required for learning.


Use of Letters

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Guru Sahiban have emphasized the importance of

letters.

AKrI nwmu AKrI slwhu ] AKrI igAwnu gIq gux gwh ] AKrI ilKxu bolxu bwxu ] AKrW isir sMjogu vKwix ] Letters form the basic elements of reading and

writing. Guru Sahib has talked about the importance

of learning these in the 15th century, when most

people were probably illiterate!


Need of a Teacher/Mentor

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Gurbani emphasizes the importance of a teacher for spiritual

education,

guru pauVI, byVI gurU, guru qulhw hir nwau ] The Guru is the Ladder, the Guru is the Boat, and the Guru is the Raft to take

me to the Lord's Name

kwlir bIjis durmiq AYsI ingury kI inswxI ] siqgurU bwJhu Gor AMDwrw fUib muey ibnu pwxI ] Without proper knowledge/guidance most well intentioned efforts can

also be worthless. Teacher should be selected with care,

gurU ijnw kw AMDlw cyly nwhI Twau ] Having a proper teacher is obviously very important for secular

education as well.


Importance of Classroom: Sangat

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Gurbani lays great emphasis on company of those who are trying

to gain the same enlightenment,

vfBwgI imlu sMgqI scw sbdu ivswh Gursikhs pray for the company of other Gursikhs, just as good

students seek admission to good universities

iqn kI sMgiq dyhu pRB mY jwick kI Ardws ] Picking up improper company for pursuit of knowledge can be

disastrous. (e.g. Party town universities or colleges!)

bgulw kwg nIc kI sMgiq, jwie krMg ibKu muiK lwieAY ] Participation in class increases commitment, enhances focus and

allows us to learn about other perspectives on the issue and

enhances learning. Teachers learn too from a participative class.


Learning By Questioning

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Guru Nanak Sahib was a great teacher. He made

people learn great lessons, by making them ask

questions or examine their own actions.

1. Haridwar Sakhi

2. Incident at Mecca

3. Wealth of Duni Chand

4. Story of Janeu

Critically examining the knowledge is an important part of Learning. US Govt

is now implementing a new education standard called “Common Core” where

students will be encouraged to critically examine whatever they read and also

critically examine the processes they use to get results in Math and science.

Guru Ji was far ahead of everyone else!


Learning By Practice

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Bhai Lehna was a Bhagat of Vaishno Devi, before

he met Guru Ji. He was a person of high caste.

Besides giving him the spiritual knowledge, Guru Ji

taught him the dignity of labor by,

Making him work in the fields (carrying dirt laden wet

grass on his head)

Retrieving the utensils from the dirty water and many

other such stories


Education is for Everyone

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After Bhai Lehna was transformed to Guru Angad Sahib, he started

teaching young people the Gurmukhi script, made them do physical

exercises and sewa in Langar.

1. He chose Gurmukhi script and Punjabi language, and not Sanskrit or

any other “scholarly language”, because education is for everyone

and not only for the Brahmins or other higher caste people

2. He prescribed physical fitness for everyone, not only for the warrior

class

3. He prescribed physical sewa for every one, as manual effort is for

everyone and not only the lower castes.

Some Punjabi folks have these traits ingrained in them. This makes

them successful in every part of the world, even though they do not

have high university degrees.


Summary

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1. Gurbani and the lives of Sikh Gurus provide us a very

comprehensive and well tested framework for designing

a modern education system

• Sikhi and education are intimately connected. We

need to work on it to realize our full potential


Framework for education_based_on_gurbani - Gurinder Pal Singh (Vichaar)

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Transcript of Framework for education_based_on_gurbani - Gurinder Pal Singh (Vichaar)