DON BOSCO'S WAY (DBWAY) - a study guide for parents, educators and youth leaders of different faiths (original) (raw)
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KEEPING DON BOSCO'S EDUCATIONAL METHOD ALIVE IN INDIA, 1906 -2016
This article is an attempt to trace the practice of Don Bosco’s Preventive System through the 110 years of the Salesian presence in India. Beginning with the daunting challenges of the vast multicultural subcontinent, the author explores the evolution and expansion of the System through the stages of implantation, adaptation and reinterpretation.
It was a cool morning about 7.30 am, four of us Salesians celebrating the Holy Mass at a small chapel in the first BOSCO open shelter. We heard a scream and loud shouting of abuse and rushed out of the Chapel in the middle of the Mass. What we saw was a group of youngsters fighting, screaming abuse at each other and a couple of them were bleeding. A group of others were trying to separate them is pulling them from the either side. In a flash we jumped into the middle of the fighting group to separate them before could ask any one the reason for the fight. (Incidents like these used to often happen between gangs or groups of different areas and allegiance.) A few minutes passed, the warring guys were standing aside, waiting for the any slight provocation to jump on each other, when a couple of other guys brought in a packet of food, on leaf plates and covered with newspaper. They opened the food packet and invited the others to come and share starting with the peace makers. One by one they all came and shared the food, ignoring the previous war cries and anger. I just watched. A packet of food dissipated the anger and hatred and how they shared from the same plate. Educated and well groomed as we are, we often hold onto hate and dislike much longer, even if it is caused by a simple word or negligence. This all happened a few days after Fr. George, one of the pioneers who started the outreach programme to the youngsters on the street, had talked to a group of them about the importance of education. He had planned to organise non-formal lessons so that they all could learn to read and write and later sit for public examinations of different grades or at the least it would stand in good stead for their future, as he had envisioned. During one such motivational lesson, Fr. George was talking about the importance of education and how it might help them in the future. One of the youngsters called out aloud: " BA andare beedhiyalli, MA andare emmethara, navella budhivantharga bekku ". (BA means on the streets, MA is like buffalos, that we should become wise), indicating that the education even at BA or MA levels is of no use for their lives and futures. He said it with such a rhyme, impromptu, yet it had such depth of meaning. This event led the BOSCO leaders to discuss, discern and develop an educational programme borrowing the words of the youngster and called " BUDHI VANTHA " comprising a range of skills of literacy, life skills, technical and vocational skills, social relationship and behaviour, career guidance and a spirituality that is meaningful to their lives. The Salesian approach originating in the 1970s mobilised volunteers and other people of good will to reach out to millions of young people who are at risk in India, even becoming an eye opener and prompted even the Government agencies to initiate various programmes for young people on the streets.
INDIGENOUS PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Bannag: A Journal of Local Knowledge, 2018
Much has already been written about the philosophy of education which most of the times are from the west. In recent times, the eastern philosophies of education are also gaining attention. However, this paper attempts neither to look towards the west nor towards the east but from among and from within the cultures, that is, the indigenous philosophies of teaching and learning. The study investigates some indigenous educational philosophies from Africa, North America, Australia, and the Philippines through a review of the literature. A list of common elements of indigenous philosophies was lifted. These are terrestrialism, communitarianism, oraliticism, preparationism, perennialism, holisticism, deconstruction-reconstructionism, and practicalism. These principles were paralleled with Religious Education and possible applications on enriching philosophies on Christian education were discussed.