KAS facilitating education March 6, 2007
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a commentFinally I am back on Krishnakids.com
I forgot my password, and there was so much spam in the ‘comments’ section so I have just been doing blog housework.
I am guessing you would like to know a bit about the Krishna Avanti School (KAS).
There is a group of devotees from educational backgrounds giving their experience, information, advice and time to planning what the school will be like. Some have been headteachers, or Principals, and others have been teaching for a long time in primary or preschool. The School is set to open in September 2008, at the beginning of the English school year. Kind of funny for us, in Australia, as we start nicely, logically and simply at the beginning of the year.
The area Harrow has a 20% Hindu population and is the only Hindu school in this area. The present land ear-marked for the project is a playing field right now, but will convert into an ecologically sound and sustainable school building. Part of the land will continue to serve as a playing field for local sports. The architectural plans are being finalised now and will be put to council soon. Their process will take until around August for a confirmation or adjustment to the plans. Then building will take place.
Meanwhile the Curriculum team headed by Urmila dd will plan a range of teaching adventures for students who will attend. There will be the usual UK primary subjects and some special provision for learning about the culture and spirituality from the Vaisnava tradition. After school children will be able to learn traditional music and other arts. (I am part of the curriculum team and on the weekend the I-Foundation members will determine what kind of fun things we are going to implement in the school to facilitate the children learning well and learning about Krishna and His culture).
Urmila dd and I have visited a number of local schools looking at curriculum, policies and various teaching strategies used in the Harrow area. There are a vast number of schools in the UK and various methods used in each, so it is a great way to learn how teaching is such a diverse occupation and varies from one audience of children to another. Independant Schools here have a lot of freedom in how they train and teach their students, whereas the Government funded schools must comply with the National Curriculum and other standards set by the Education Department.
Getting a handle on the system takes some time, as every country has different ways of educating their children. I have observed that it would be a lot easier/simpler and maybe fun, not to have such institutionalised systems, but I guess we are a long way from turning around the machine that is modern life. Some schools I have visited are the Moraih Jewish School, Swami Narayana School (we went to the amazing temple opposite also), Holland House (an independant school around the corner from where we live) and a local school that has a lot of success with students whose additional language is English. Observing the schools and getting advice and information from the Headteachers has been extremely helpful in understanding how the system does work, and they have generally been very helpful and happy to have visitors to their schools.
Now I am just working on a few graphics to make a curriculum presentation to our I-Foundation supporters so they can clearly see how beneficial a curriculum made for the needs of the KAS could be. Facilitating learning is one very good thing. Facilitating education about Krishna additionally is perfection.
T
Getting Ready for Holy Cow December 30, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a commentSorry no posts, my faithful readers and spammers who like to target web blogs. Many things have started happening over my holidays besides a gradual recovery process from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The students at school were too much - especially in one class : ( Either I need to transcend stress or shelter myself from overly stressful environments. A discussion to be broached in the future….
Somehow I have been given a job helping write and prepare Curriculum for the Krishna Avanti School in the UK. I will be leaving here on 23rd of Jan and saying goodbye to my husband for a few months. (lucky there is skype, email, text messages etc) The promise of a funded school for local Hindus and devotees is very inspirational.
It has huge implications for the global HK world. Resources, teacher training, literature etc. It is an opportunity that really excites me and means I don’t have to face my demons in the form of frustrated teenagers, thus avoiding that type of stress for a while. Obviously life wouldn’t be healthy with some kind of challenges and we would not grow or learn things about ourselves if there weren’t ’stretches’ from time to time. Nevertheless, I am happy to embark on a new chapter in the Taraka life. I will miss my best friend, mentioned earlier, however.
Above is a photo from Vrindavan when I finished printing my Picture A Cow book a few years ago. The bull pictured is one of the most beautiful creatures I have seen. There was a small herd of them being raised at the Goshalla. They were purely bred (I can;t tell you what type….) and the nature of this breed was very shy. They kept running away from us, as usually cows/bulls are very curious beings. The devotee taking the photos brought a great quantity of gur for us to feed the bulls. It worked!! so we got some great shots.
If you would like a copy of this little art book with ‘cow lowdown’ just email me for one. taraka@iskcon.org.au
Exhibition starts Tuesday, 2nd Jan, 2007
Devotee Artist December 19, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a commentI received two Holy Cow postcards from Saradiya in the US. She has illustrated Iskcon Publications since the 1970s. Check out her website.
T
Cow Kids December 4, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farLast week I received my first Hare Krishna Kids’contribution to Holy Cow! Mail Art International exhibition. It was a great boost to the collection.
The cards came from S Radha Gleeson 14, Jana Beck 13, Goky 13, Kaneya Poudal 12, Vishnu Brown 12, Sanjaya Govinda 14, Rupa Durr 14 and a couple from very enthusiastic artists who forgot their names on the back. There was one that really caught my eye by Ekendra age 34.
I will scan them in for you to see the wonderful skills and imagination of the Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula students.
So far this is the international count.
Australia 16
France 9
USA 8
Holland 5
Brazil 3
Russia, Italy, 2 each
Germany, Norway, Canada, Uruguay and Uk 1 from each.
So to save you adding it up, I have 50 postcards for the exhibition. Stay tuned for the opening info. I have another blog site to put all of the art so will let you know when that is functional.
I have started planning paintings to go with the postcards and will start them this week. They will be quite whimsical, with some elements of thought about our world.
T
Last Day of School December 1, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a commentMy contract finishes today. This is 4.17am. I have a heap of things to do, like finish a submission of an entire year for the Year 11 Art class. Unhelpful in this endeavour is that students leave their work at home and don’t bring it when I ask. So let me see what brews in the staffroom today. Photographs of all their work have to be printed out and placed in a folder with their writing tasks. Rank order and all the other papers required - forms like S, R etc. (whatever they mean) are filled out and it goes off to a panel for ‘Judgement’ to see if the teachers are too harsh or too lenient. The lecturers at Uni talked about these things, but it was highly unrelevent when we were trying to write essays to get through the course. Now their advise is hazy and I think it was about ‘getting on the panel if you can, so you can see how the process works’.
This is just to explain how teaching is not so much about teaching. There are so many other things to deal with and if you are not a superwoman or man, it can be very demanding. There are so many skills required to be a ‘teacher’, besides office extraordinare and psychologist, entertainer, editor, comedian, lesson planner, first aid expert, manager, and I could go on.
This year I have been streched and extended, exhausted and sometimes satisfied through the process of developing more skills in being a ‘teacher’. I can attest to the fact that University does not give much except theoretical foundation for teaching. Practicum obviously assists, but perhaps the best way to learn would be to assist a teacher for a year. Observe and assess students’ work, do office tasks and see how the whole drama unfolds. This would probably be a financial impossibility and teachers are often uninclined to take on practicum teachers as it is time consuming and sometimes frustrating, like occasionally experienced when driving behind a learner driver. It takes a special person to be a driving instructor.
Thats all for now folks.
T
Dolls of Devotion November 25, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a comment
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=2208
This is an article about Dolls of Devotion made with love by some devotees in Alachua. There are very touching testimonials included in the article which inspire a regard for the power of the dolls. Once, Srila Prabhupada was asked if a child’s simple drawing was Krishna, he replied, “yes it is Krishna”, what to speak of these dolls made with focus and attention.
T
Holy Cow and Power November 22, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farI have about 40 participants for my Holy COw Mail Art Exhibition.
All of the participants have sent interesting work. There are a few really unconventional pieces, and that makes life even more interesting. Still no receipt from one Hare Krishna Devotee. Many promises have been made, but that is life in the simple living and high thinking zone.
I have two nieces and two nephews living in London. My sister and her family moved there about four years ago. Since the separation of my sister and her husband, quite recently, I have been sending little letters and small books that I make to connect with them. When I phone up they all want to talk and tell me interesting things they have been doing. I am amazed at their feelings when all I do is doodle on some paper, write their names on it and put it in an envalope and post it. Of course it is great for me because it forces me to be creative and design and draw. I have also developed an affection for the postboxes : )
Giving simple pleasure to other humans is very satisfying. It is also about being connected with the Supreme Pleasure giver. In the current society people have become selfish to an extreme. They are dried up from always manipulating others in subtle or gross ways to get something. It is apparent at school daily. Not too many children have understood values on a deep or shallow level. I was chatting with some kids about lying because they tell you, “I don’t have any gum”. (Against school rules). And I ask why is it ok to lie? Then I went on to cleanliness and one of them defended himself saying, “I am really clean”. Externally he may be clean, or think so, but when we dig a little, there is no idea of internal cleanliness.
Then I asked about austerity, I had to explain what it is first, then gave the example of sports people, giving up pleasures for the goal of winning their sport. It was the closest example they would relate to, but then I can’t even explain what that austerity is meant for…pleasing G O D. So in my own little way I try and at least discuss the possibility of these things. It is much better than them talking about their teenage parties and whatever else passes from their lips. It is hard to guage what effect one person in an extremely covert way has on the children. Do they have more influence over me? They are dominant by quantity.
Well that is where power and influence is tested. I tried to explain one day how they could easily dominate me by force. Some of the students are boys who are easily stronger than me. But the position of ‘authority’ is actually more powerful than strength. It is a totally non-physical thing. Unless one is invested with authority, one cannot have much power or influence in a positive or negative way. Students empower a cool person, by accepting them and following their behaviour. If the empowerment is taken away so is the influence.
Children who are taught to honour and respect authority obviously have an easier time in life because there will always be authority, influence and someone with more power. That is not to say they need to do that blindly, but with intelligence and understanding. It also make the possibility of spiritual life easier. To accept the Guru, to accept the Supreme Lord, will not be easy for a child who has not been taught respect in life. Also if the child has been let down by parents the faith in authority will not be established and this is very difficult to overcome.
So take a little time to make something for a child. You have influence and power to give a small amount of pleasure and increase their faith that adults are good, and kind. They will look up to you and you can give them something that will improve their chances of accepting spiritual life.
Student at school November 18, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a commentA student from a number of final year students at my school, graduated this week. We can call him Andre. He and I had a few discussions since I have been working there. The last and most memorable was about Vegetarianism and some of the teachings from ‘Ancient India’. I showed him the “Meatrix” on the PETA website and Kurma’s web blog. The internet is like a knive. It can do great good, by cutting vegetables, but can be also used for hurting others. So we are able to use it for really positive things, like showing KC websites and supportive websites to our lifestyle.
During the week I found him hiding in the School Counsellor’s office writing a scholarship application. He is aiming to study Biomedical Science.
I presented him with a ‘Light of the Bhagavat’ and he was really grateful. It is not a straight ISKCON book, although the content is very straight, the presentation is cultural and not strictly Indian. I thought this was the book for Andre to start with. He has been a vegetarian since he was seven years old because he did not want to eat meat. His parents accepted his desire, but he has had to learn to cook for himself over those years. Now it is up to the book ‘Bhagavat’ to work on Andre and hopefully we will catch up when he has some questions.
T
Education for 3- 6 year olds October 29, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , add a commenthttp://www.dandavats.com/?p=1923
This article is calling for educational professionals within ISKCON. It is a great step forward for Gurukulas the world over.
When I taught briefly at Gurukula I tried to make the artwork fit in with the themes of the classroom learning. Their daily teacher, Premavati Mataji and I taught together. It was a great experience and led the children to connect themes together. They learned about Krishna’s advent, made a play and in the art room we made monoprints of all the devotees present at Krishna’s name giving ceremony.
In another class the students were making Aboriginal paintings and prints to decorate the edges of the work. They chose the pets of Radha and Krishna as the animals to portray. I think it was some of the most interesting Aboriginal art work I have seen. I painted Radha and Krishna…oops still not quite finished.
Some students and I made Deities from the Islands of Navadwip out of papier mache. That was pretty fun for most, but it did take a long time, with a few outstanding outcomes.
During that time at Gurukula I had a lot of stimulation for making KC art Projects. I can see if we can make this new curriculum as a basis for Gurukulas it will make the education of our children easier for teachers, who constantly have to augment the National Syllabus of each country with KC content. The children will obviously benefit because whatever is taught in those foundational years stays with children for a lifetime. We can all remember fairy stories, myths and nursery rhymes from decades ago. It is a wonderful project to connect to so if any readers have qualification, please get involved.
Taraka dd
Holy Cow International Mail Art Exhibition October 21, 2006
Posted by taraka in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so far 
Here are some postcards I have made and sent to individuals to invite them to contribute to the exhibition. Most of these were for Gurukulas. The last one with the holy cow text was made when I was in China. I think it was one of my best so far.
Now you know what I am looking for, you may be inspired to contribute.
T