It is without a doubt that a completely new education system is drastically needed, one that reflects the cultural, environmental and geo-political transformations of our world today. First, we need to begin with a foundation which addresses the student’s need to know him/herself well.

The present system captures the student at an early age, pushing them into the world, way before they know themselves and in many cases way before they are ready.

The danger of this process is that the student is unlikely to feel comfortable and confident with him/herself for many years if at all.

Thus, always being pulled “out” into the social world, pressures a false sense of identity and destiny to find oneself, that is acted out in the form of competition, that defines future goals as being most important, while disregarding what is most practical, sustainable and most pertinent in the moment.

This is the movement and hidden agenda of the present educational system. . If students are always looking for themselves out in the world, there is little threat that they will stop, and go inward—until the day comes that they finally break.

One reason why so many young people today are unhappy and confused is because the present system does not make it easy for them to know themselves. Two, does not address or allow them to explore their cultural and individual needs and gifts; and, three, it doesn’t support their potentials to be an integral co-creator of the system.

I am calling for an educational system that is student centered, not system centered; an educational system that provides the teacher with the ability to tap into the deeper levels of the student’s consciousness which require a cultivation of their intuition.

With this type of education students will be initiated from the beginning of their educational career into themselves. They will learn about their body, their mind and their spirit; they will learn to survive in the natural world, where they can learn about themselves.

Students will be given the opportunity to become “whole human beings” while they are presented with countless experiences to learn the virtues of their humanness, virtues that will allow them to develop into wise, caring and conscientious participants of an evolving collective community.

A student centered education teaches students to know and accept him/herself first and each other second. At the same time the values of what it means to be a human being are demonstrated through the practice of daily rituals that connect the student to him/herself and their natural, personal and social environments.

In regards to schools, not only is a “whole school” attitude needed, its orientation must be grounded in a united world view—one that brings values of integrity to the individual student and teacher.

.   .  .  . Let us not underestimate the opportunity we each have as educators, to implement a more student centered atmosphere in the classroom. This would immediately awaken the student’s self-respect, as they are provided with the venue to explore themselves in a safe and nurturing environment of equanimity.

This would support the interaction of teacher and student without many of the conditions that are imposed by the system from the top down.

A student centered curriculum in the classroom will strip away the pressures and concerns of the student to fit into a particular category and standard of testing but instead feed the infinite possibilities that can arise through the trust, love and respect generated.

It is extremely disheartening as an international educator to see the restrictions, controls and limitations put on the teacher and student, as is the practice of the present system. Even more unfortunate, is that the extended affects of these restrictions, controls and limitations put on teachers and students today cause an abrupt halt to the future evolution of our citizens and the world at large.

The narrow attitudes of the mainstream educational paradigm today constrict creative and independent thinking of everyone involved.  How can students be encouraged to ask questions if there is not the opportunity to be curious?  In an atmosphere of restrictive rules, judgment, criticism, categorization and determinism there is no possibility to feel the most necessary values for good learning: self-respect, self-esteem, confidence, trust, safety and freedom to think clearly and speak from the heart.