15 Feb 2016-19 Feb 2016|Noida | Amity Campus, Sector-125, Noida
Amity Institute of Education, Noida organises Workshop on ‘Critical reflections on the Ancient Indian schools of philosophy in the context of current education system’
Amity Institute of Education, Amity University organizeda first of its kind workshop on a theme of great significance in the present times ‘Critical reflections on the Ancient Indian schoolsof philosophy in the context of current education system’ at Amity Campus,Sector-125, Noida
The Workshop was sponsoredby Indian Council of Philosophical Research, (ICPR) New Delhi .
The Chief Guest and theresource persons were welcomed by Dr. Alka Muddgal, Head AIE, AUUP andProf.(Dr.) Ranjana Bhatia, Mentor, AIE-Delhi.
In her opening remarks, Prof. Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, AUUP, Noida recollectedthe ‘guru shishya’ parampara where students were educated in all aspects oflife. She raised questions on the flaws in our current education system as itis imparting mere information and not holistic education in terms of knowledge, skills , values and attitudes. She emphasized upon the significant roleplayed by the teachers and teacher education institutions in realizing theeducational goals of our society for the progress of humanity world over.
On the first day, the inaugural session key noteaddress was given by renowned philosopherand Sanskrit Professor Siddheswar Bhatt, Chairperson , ICPR, New Delhi. Hereminded the participants that according to Indian culture, a human being isborn with immense abilities and conducive conditions should be provided todevelop his potential to the fullest and this responsibility lies in the hands of parents,teachers and the individual himself. He also talked about universal compassion,cooperation and mutual sharing and caring.
ProfSatheesha, K S, Shiromani , Acharya, Dept of Advait Vedanta,Shri Lal BahadurShastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi spoke on ‘ Vedanta School ofThought’.
ProfessorRanjana Arora , Head , RMSA Cell , NCERT, New Delhiconducted an activity based interactive session on ‘Experiential and Reflective Strategies forValues Education’. She discussed practical strategies like Anecdotal narration, emphasison values in the text, creating situations, role plays, real life stories,questioning, discussion, screening of movies and others in nurturing valuesamong students. She emphasized on ‘whole school approach’where sincere efforts should be madefrom the beginning to strengthen value system.
On the second day, Prof Shashiprabha Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Sanchi University of Buddhist– India Studies, Madhya Pradesh provided rare insights into the Nyaya-Vaiseshika System of thought . She implored to make teaching learning process effectiveand stressed that the teacher and taught must be committed to their profession.
The resource person for ‘Jainism School of thought’was Dr. Shugan C Jain , Chairman, InternationalSummer School for Jain Studies. He reinstated that the essence of Jainismis ‘Ahimsa’ or non violence which should be imparted through learning,observation, visualisation and experience through experiment.
Subsequently, a group discussion was conducted on ‘Indian Schools of Philosophy – a panacea forcritical issues in current education system
Onthe third day, Professor Hareram Mishrafrom Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawahar lal Nehru University, NewDelhi deliberated on the significance of Vedanta in current educationsystem. Selected documentaries on different schools of Indian Philosophy werescreened, which was followed by a session on the application of story tellingtechnique for nurturing values.
On the Fourth Day , Professor (Dr.) Ranjana Bhatia, Principal Amity Institute of Education Saket, GGSIP University , Delhi in hersession on ‘Theory of Karma in Indian Philosophy ’ infused in participantsthe mindfulness and zeal to be consciousof the ‘karma’ theory in all aspects of their lives if they want to experiencetrue happiness in life. Dr. Mahesh Prasad Silori, Dean- Darshan Faculty,Professor and Head- Samkhya Yoga, Yoga-Vigyan Kendra, Shri Lal Bhadur ShastriRashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi educated the participants on the Samkhyaand Yoga Darshan philosophies in a lucid manner.
The participants also watched the movie ‘Chalk and Duster’ which was followedby a critical discussion on the issues pertaining to teaching profession in thepresent times. Some of the issues raised by the movie were- business motive andprofit maximisation by the schools, incompetent team leaders, disrespect ofexperienced and able teachers.
During the fifth day , Dr Somvir Shastri , Senior Faculty, Amity School of Physical Educationand Sports Sciences, Noida rejuvenated the mind and body of theparticipants with his session on ,’Yoga and Meditation’ in the morning.
Prof(Dr) Hira Paul,Head , Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi,Delhi deliberated on the ‘Buddhist School of Thought’. The discussion which ensued thereafter was thought provoking.
Mrs Neeta Rastogi, Principal, Sadhu Vaswani InternationalSchool, Delhi shared her experiences and innovative practices in context of ‘Relevance of Ancient Indian Schools ofPhilosophy in nurturing values among students in school’ .
The valedictory session of the Five days workshopwas graced by well known academician , researcher and practitioner Prof (Dr) Saroj Sharma , School ofEducation , Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. Sheappreciated the Department for organizing a five - day workshop on a themewhich is of grave critical importance in the special context of currenteducation system.