Promoting British Values at Animal Crackers

 

Education is a fundamental right to which every child is entitled. An education is fundamental to the development of individuals and their continued wellbeing. It allows individuals to realize their full human capacities and to live rich and meaningful lives. Education also has the potential to shape entire communities.

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In 2014, for the International Day of Peace, the United Nations made a profound statement on the role that education plays not just in the attainment of a lasting international peace, but also with regards to the wellbeing of humanity as a whole. Furthermore, the statement also spoke to a grander vision for education as being more than just the acquisition of academic skills such as literacy and numeracy:

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Training in morals and good conduct is far more important than book learning. A child that is cleanly, agreeable, of good character, well-behaved – even though he be ignorant – is preferable to a child that is rude, unwashed, ill-natured, and yet becoming deeply versed in all the science and arts. The reason for this is that the child who conducts himself well, even though he be ignorant, is of benefit to others, while an ill-natured, ill-behaved child is corrupted and harmful to others, even though he be learned. If, however, the child be trained to be both learned and good, the result is light upon light.1

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According to this approach to education, children – and humanity, in general – are likened to a mine rich in gems, with innate virtues and great potentialities. This capacity can only be realised through education. The role of adults and educators is not, then, as providers of knowledge, but as facilitators in a lifelong process of learning that is largely self-directed.

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While the pursuit of academic knowledge is important, a greater emphasis is placed on the development of virtues of character, with the belief that a child that has the opportunity for both will be “light upon light”. Such a child will be resilient in adversity – capable of steering their own course while emerging as a leader to his or her own community and acting as an agent of change.

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1 Selections From the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Centre, 1982, p. 320