September 21: “I can say with confidence that if the world is to have peace, nonviolence is the means to that end and no other.” –Gandhi (Harijan, July 20, 1947) On International Day of Peace, what better way to celebrate than to remember that peace is something we can–must–learn. It is not a question of… read more
Tag Archives: education
“People can change for the better”–Daily Metta
September 20: “My faith in human nature is irrepressible and even under the circumstances of a most adverse character.” –Gandhi (Young India, January 1, 1920) Faith in human nature sounds naive and foolish. But why should it be? For those who long for a nonviolent alternative to our educational, political, and even criminal justice systems,… read more
“The education of a lifetime”–Daily Metta
September 16: “The child should never feel that he is being taught.” –Gandhi (Navijivan, June 2, 1929) When Narayan Desai, fondly referred to by Gandhiji as “Babla,” decided to quit the village school running on the colonial education system in favor of the “school” of working for Gandhi at the ashram, he was convinced it… read more
“The Sound of Music”–Daily Metta
September 13: “There can be no Swaraj where there is no harmony, no music.” –Gandhi (Young India, April 15, 1926) If you were around Gandhi, you would experience music: from hymns at prayer meetings to the rhythmic sounds of spinning wheels. His appreciation for music, however went beyond our traditional understandings of instruments and rhythms;… read more
“A meeting of soul with soul”–Daily Metta
September 10: “You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.” –Gandhi (Young India, November 19, 1931, from his speech at the Montessori Training College) Very often Gandhi is the… read more
“Religion: a practical matter”–Daily Metta
September 9: “Just as preservation of one’s own culture does not mean contempt for that of others, but requires assimilation of the best that there may be in all of the other cultures, even so should be the case with religion.” –Gandhi (Young India, December 6, 1928) A “reverential study” of the religions of the… read more
“Novelty in New Education”–Daily Metta
September 6: “I admit that my proposal is novel. But novelty is no crime.” –Gandhi (Harijan, September 18, 1937) A controversial element in Gandhi’s vision for primary education was that it should be self-supporting. Students, as they learn a craft, should be able to earn the funds necessary to cover the costs of schooling, instead… read more
“The value of an education”–Daily Metta
September 5: “It is not literacy or learning which makes a [man], but education for real life.” –Gandhi (Harijan, February 2, 1947) Education has undergone a dramatic shift in recent decades. Where it once served to expand the mind, it has become a tool to expand the wallet and the ego. An education seems to… read more
“Dignity in Education”–Daily Metta
September 3: “I hold that, as the largest part of our time is devoted to labour for earning our bread, our children must from their infancy be taught the dignity of such labor.” –Gandhi (Young India, September 1, 1921) Nai Talim, or new education, besides having an emphasis on character-building and local-regional languages, put value… read more
“Primary education–a first glance”–Daily Metta
September 1: “The foundation that Macaulay laid of education has enslaved us.” –Gandhi (Hind Swaraj, Chapter 18) Thomas Babington Macaulay went to India on what was in his eyes, a “civilizing mission” to reform their system of education to create a class of civil servants for the British Raj. For him it may have… read more
