Prof. L. S. Ganesh
Former Professor, Dept. of Management Studies and Dean (Students), IIT Madras; Vice Chancellor (2022-2025), ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad
Before I say a single word about classrooms, I want to establish something far more important:
PURPOSE.
We must not violate purpose in our daily lives. Violations SHALL have the due consequences. That’s the Law of Karmam and Karmapalangal. Every breath of ours is driven by our Karmapalangal. We will not eat our food in our toilet. We will not use our kitchen as a toilet. Why? Because each space has a clearly defined purpose, and we conform to it by design as well as instinctively. We do not debate it. We don’t need committees to decide. The purpose emerges in our minds and becomes self-evident. We set and affirm purpose. We honour and pursue it.
Education is no different. And when we lose sight of its purpose, everything that follows — every lesson plan, every exam, every interaction among teachers, students and parents — becomes confused at best, and actively harmful at worst.
So what is the Purpose of Education?
Our tradition, refined over centuries and rooted in our own land, has a clear, generic answer:
to enable the individual human being to perform Karmam while pursuing their chosen Dharmam.
Dharmam is not something we achieve once and possess forever — it is something we intend and commit to pursue. The pursuit itself is the point, and it happens through our Karmam or actions: through thought, expression, and deed, moment to moment, and across an entire lifetime.
This is the foundation.
Without Dharmam (for guidance) and the due Karmam (for guided action), no discussion of classroom management, teaching technique or student engagement will have any real grounding in our Education systems at large
“One of the worst acts of Adharmam is when we violate our own chosen purpose. Unintentionally is a mistake; intentionally is SIN!”
Three Questions TO TEST THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE ARE EducatED
From this foundation, let us pose three questions with their respective corollaries. Not rhetorical ones, but questions we should actually own, internalize and answer with integrity, throughout our lives, and for ourselves.
The first is: am I at peace with myself? And the corollary: am I at peace with the rest of the world and the universe? This is critical because the extent to which we are not at peace with ourselves is the precise extent to which we are not educated. Period. If we cannot find peace within ourselves, with what authority can we claim to be sufficiently educated?
I will confess openly — I am a very ordinary human being with a considerably large ego. Honestly. The only thing I can support myself with is that I am willing to confess publicly. Am I winning the struggle against my ego? No. I fail far more often than I succeed. But I keep struggling. That is all any of us can do.
The second question: am I holding my dignity, grace and honour intact while I live as a human being? And the corollary: am I enabling others to hold their dignity, grace and honour intact? Not only do we maintain our own dignity, grace, and honour, we should actively help others maintain theirs. These are not mere virtues. They are a responsibility that we should fulfil because of being educated.
The third question: am I struggling for fulfilment in my life, every moment, every day, every month, and every year across my lifetime? Note the word struggling. In the Indian context of education, it is not a sign of failure — it is a sign of genuine, persistent engagement. The greatest souls that lived on our planet— from Gautama Buddha to Lord Jesus and onwards to Ramana Mahaarishi with so many in between — demonstrated this path: they lived with fulfilment through pursuit of purpose (Divine?) and guided others to struggle for theirs. That is the full arc of what a teacher ought to do and be.
Why We Do What We Do? The “6-S” Framework of the game of life
To understand why we educate, and why students should learn, I use what I call the “6-S Framework” (6-SF) to reflect the ‘Game of Life’ that ALL of us play, whether we like it or not. The 6-SF answers the question: what are the basic aims of human life? Because once we can answer that honestly, we are only one step away from answering any other question, including why anyone should sit in a classroom for learning.
The six basic aims, which are logically sequenced and apply in the physical and mental contexts of our existence, are: Survival, Stability, Strength, Success, Superiority, and Sustainability. The last one cuts across the first five.
We should note specially that we are also referring to the ‘quality’ and ‘efficiency’ of our realizing these six basic aims in addition to their nominal realization.
We seek to realize these basic aims via both involuntary or automatic and voluntary or judicious choices of Action-Experiences (A-E). The A-E are performed using, Resources (‘R’ – Natural and Human-made) under specific Conditions (‘C’ – self-imposed and external). Essentially, we use combinations of A-E, R, and C, each of which can be classified as being Vital (V), Essential (E), or Desirable (D), for realizing our basic aims.
The Vital ones are those without which our basic aims cannot be realized at all — impossible.
Essential ones are those combinations without which we can realize our basic aims, but with lowered quality and efficiency.
Desirable ones are those that are not strictly necessary and we can realize our basic aims without them, and as originally intended. However, we also enjoy some temporary conveniences because of them.
The common ballpoint pen having three parts – the refill, the body (with screw-on tip and/or back stoppers), and a cap – can serve as an operational example. Other morphological structural manifestations of ballpoint pens exist.
The refill is Vital, because without it we cannot write ordinarily or commonly or normally or typically or generally. Yes, exceptional situations do exist when writing can happen without a refill. But, we should use our finer judgement to distinguish between ordinary and extraordinary, common and uncommon, normal and not normal, typical and atypical, the rule and the exception, and so on depending upon the circumstances.
The golden rule is: “Treat exceptions exceptionally; never use rules or policies under exceptional circumstances.
The body of the pen is Essential — you can hold a refill and write, but the quality and efficiency of writing will be poorer.
The cap is Desirable — quite useful, but we can write effectively without it.
Vital – Essential – Desirable (V-E-D). Teach your children the finer distinction and you will have given them one of the most practical tools for managing their time, their priorities and their lives. Also, teach them to use their judgement to distinguish between ordinary and extraordinary, common and uncommon, normal and not normal, typical and atypical, the rule and the exception, and so on in their lives.
Now, let’s take the first basic aim, Survival, particularly the ‘physical context’ The A-E of ’breathing’ is Vital even in the short term — absence of ‘breathing’ will imply non-realization of ‘Survival’, and the time duration when one does not or cannot breathe will have varying effects depending upon the individual. Kate Winslet of Titanic fame demonstrated astonishing breath control under water for a little over seven minutes! Please don’t try such agonizing and life-threatening stunts driven by EGO. I’ll surface desperately for breath from under water in just about 30 seconds. So, we are measuring the definite negative consequences of absence of breathing in only seconds and minutes commonly. Hence, the A-E of ‘breathing’ is Vital. It requires the ‘R’ and ‘C’ of ‘air’ and ‘good/clean’ respectively. We should note that the air one breathes, say in New Delhi, will not kill immediately, but will definitely cause long-term undesirable consequences. Next, the A-E of ‘sleep’ is also Vital because without it, within fifty to sixty hours commonly we begin to gradually lose control of our minds; one may not notice it, but others around can and will. Water and food (R) are Vital in the long-term, relatively speaking. One can survive without any water for about seven to ten days and without any food and with only hydration, for about a month or two.
We should note that here we must distinguish between the short-term (ST) and the long-term (LT). The A-E of breathing (minutes) and sleep (hours) are Vital for Survival even in the ST, while the A-E of drinking water (days) and eating food (weeks) are Vital in the LT, relatively speaking. Just as we consider the effects of the absence of breathing on ‘Survival’, we should consider the effects of the presence of deadly, undiscoverable poison (actually an ‘R’ in a wider context) in our water or food. This way, we can account comprehensively for all A-E, R, and C in the context of our lives with reference to both, their presence and absence in the ST and the LT.
Physical exercise (an A-E) is Essential for us: we can survive without engaging in this A-E, but the quality of our Survival will suffer without it, especially in the LT.
Chocolate ice cream (an ‘R’) is Desirable. We can easily ‘survive’ without it, but we enjoy having it, especially on hot summer days.
Turning our attention to the ‘mental context’ of our Survival, we note that ‘sleep’ (an ‘A-E’) is also Vital for our minds. ‘Blood flow’ (an automatic ‘A-E’) is Vital for both ‘physical’ and ‘mental’ survival. ‘Absence of ‘intense mental torture’ is Vital for mental survival, even in the ST.
Mind-bending Exercise: Try and identify more such A-E, R, and C combinations for your ‘mental’ Survival and classify the combinations as V, E, or D in the ST and LT. Clue: How would you classify ‘solitude’, ‘friendship’, ‘humour’, ‘prayer’, ‘watching a movie’, ‘listening to music’, ‘smoking a cigarette’, ‘watching the vast ocean’, ‘gong on a picnic’, ‘a romantic relationship’, and so on?
Now apply the same thinking further onto the next basic aim, ‘Stability’ of body and mind, and then further onto the next, ‘Strength’. We can easily observe that the same combinations of A-E, R, and C will hold good, but often with greater importance or even a shift from LT to ST, depending upon the individual indulging in this self-examination. We should note that ‘Stability’ will be relevant only when ‘Survival’ is realized, and ‘Strength’ will be relevant only after ‘Stability’ is realized. How can one be ‘Strong’ and ‘Surviving’ without ‘Stability’ of body and/or mind? This includes the ‘quality’ and ‘efficiency’ aspects. We can also note that the framework is dynamic and adaptive too . The A-E, R, and C that would be V, E, or D when we are twenty years old may not be rated the same when we are forty and then at sixty. Our life stages change the picture entirely.
“Never generalize in our worldly sense. Generalization is the refuge of the intellectually challenged.”
The first three aims — Survival, Stability, and Strength — are ‘self-referenced’ and ‘value-independent’. We know whether we are Surviving, alive and kicking. We are direct experiencers of the Stability and Strength of our body and mind, and even reveal our status. Hence, ‘self-referenced’. Also, there are a number of observable and openly verifiable common criteria to ‘test’ and ‘evaluate’ our Survival probability, state of Stability and Strength of our body and mind. Hence, ‘value-independent’. We do not need anyone else other than the professional ‘testers’ and ‘evaluators’ to confirm our ‘state’ of being.
The next three — Success, Superiority, and Sustainability — are ‘value-dependent’ and ‘externally referenced’. What is Success for one may be failure for another. The criteria of Success, Superiority, and Sustainability are verifiably more subjective and are likely to be debated, perhaps eternally too. The criteria include money and influence, power and authority, popularity and fame, solitude and peace and so on. At the extreme, we even have individuals for whom securing the next morsel of food would be ‘Success’.
Overall and essentially, we seek to realize Sustainable, Successful, Strong, and Stable Survival. Superior, if feasible. However, the truth worth internalizing is that history provides solid evidence that no individual, no organisation, no nation or even civilization has ever realized Sustainable Superiority on earth. Not one. The Game of Life makes it impossible due to that fantastic Universal and Eternal ‘Law of Change’: Everything shall change, including the Law! Even the way ‘Change’ changes …… also changes!
The 6-SF is applicable to the Games of Life played at three distinct levels of human systems:
1. the Individual (you and me) at the micro-level,
2. Social Units (on the social track from our families, communities, to sects, etc., , and on the organizational track from our business organizations to Governments) at the meso-level, and
3. entire Nations, Societies, and even Civilizations at the macro-level.
The Learning Cycle From UNCONSCIOUS Ignorance to BLISSFUL Silence: BEYOND Professor RAYMOND BLOOM
Now let us come directly into the classroom. All learning begins with “Unconscious Ignorance” (UI), the state of knowledge signifying “I don’t know that I don’t know”. This is precisely where the teacher’s Dharmam begins. Students who are ignorant of their ignorance should be nudged by their teachers into “Conscious Ignorance” (CI) the next state of knowledge, signifying “I know that I don’t know”. This shift can be effected by nudging the students to refer back to the 6-SF and the A-E, R, and C combinations required for realizing the applicable and relevant basic aims of their own lives. This is referred to as making them learn with “Skin in the Game”. This kindles their curiosity and the corresponding motivation to learn. Once ignited, curiosity is the engine that generates genuine hunger to know and drives further learning. This effort is an integral part of the Dharmam of the teacher.
Teachers who intentionally smother students’ curiosity are intellectual and professional failures (villains?). Often such teachers (sic!) use rigid authority combined with contempt or for the students’ questions, and sometimes even fear. They are harmful to the system as a whole. We should note that good teachers multiply through their students. But, bad teachers multiply more, not uncommonly.
From CI, the student moves through four stages. The first is Awareness — the ability to observe, identify, recognize, label, categorize, and give a gross/macro-level general description of a physical or conceptual entity. This corresponds to specific ‘Action Verbs’ specified in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Thus, the Learning Cycle cryptically presented in Indian Knowledge Systems can and should be effectively integrated with Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students can and should be tested for ‘Awareness’. Can they identify ‘an entity? Can they name/label ‘it’? Can they categorize ‘it’? Can they provide a gross description? Essentially, ‘Awareness’ enables students to respond to the “What”, and “Who” questions with reference to the ‘entity’ being studied.
The second stage is Familiarity — the ability to describe in increasing detail, to elaborate, to characterize, to estimate, and even attempt early or crude predictions or anticipation of the entity’s features and behaviour. For example, we were aware of “Education”. Now, we are more familiar with it in terms of its Dharmic context and Karmic implications. We are also aware of the 6-SF, which underlies Education’s practical philosophy and purpose in human life. Essentially, ‘Familiarity’ involves knowledge of the ‘entity’ in addition to the “What” and “Who” questions and gaining knowledge on the “Where” and “When” questions as well.
The third stage is Understanding — the ability to explain and answer the “How” and “Why” questions. Not just “what” or “who” an entity is, and not just the “where” and “when” questions concerning its existence, but also the “how” and “why” of the entity’s existence, significance, characteristics, behaviour, and relationships. Students who can provide clear, cogent, and comprehensive explanations concerning an entity would have demonstrated their ‘Understanding’, which also enables them to make relatively more accurate predictions about the entity and even attempt to ‘control’ its behaviour. For example, “How” and “Why” does a principle or concept matter and hold? What are its fundamental governing principles and implications?
The fourth and most critical, but ‘lost’ stage is Internalization. This is the penultimate step to Mastery. Through ‘Internalization’, we no longer think explicitly about our learning and knowledge consciously — it moves through us and what we know becomes a part of our breath and blood flow. Imagine a great musician rendering a raagam spontaneously in a concert, freely and with blissful abandon. Living in the moment. Such uncanny freedom cannot come from talent alone. It emerges from months and years of ‘Internalization’ of the grammar and the soul of the raagam, practising it again and again and again until it ceases to be something separate from us and becomes integral to us. Imagine Christiano Ronaldo playing football. Novak Djokovic playing Tennis. Sachin Tendulkar batting. Vaibhav Suryavanshi at the crease in this edition of IPL. Bhimsen Joshi rendering the Shuddha Kalyan raagam. A. R. Rahman composing music. The actions and responses are intuitive, spontaneous and amazing. We cannot enjoy such freedom without ‘Internalization’. It is the same in teaching, in mathematics, in medicine, … actually in every field of human endeavour. This is referred to in Indian Knowledge Systems as “Nidhidhyaasanam” (meaning, Internalization through Meditation or committed repetitive practice). This is the guarantee of “Practice makes one perfect”.
“Real freedom in action comes from Internalization. We are so damn good at what we are doing that we act spontaneously and with complete ease.”
Moving beyond Conscious Mastery (CM) or the state “We know that we know”, SubConscious Mastery emerges from persistent ‘Internalization’. And beyond that, in our Indian knowledge tradition, is a stage that I can only call Silence. The teacher who has reached that point does not need to speak to share knowledge. Ramana Maharishi, the Sage of Thiruvanaamalai, was that kind of a guru. Hundreds of people have testified that they went to him burdened with questions about life and left experiencing his silent, wise smile and answers he never verbally gave. They simply sat in his presence and something shifted. That is the absolute outer limit or ideal of what teaching can become. We may not reach that state ever, but we should know that it exists. It reframes our Dharmam and reconfigures our Karmam. It indicates divine inspiration for us teachers.
What to ASSESS via testing and EVALUATion? How?
On practical assessment: We should test and evaluate our students across four dimensions of learning effectiveness. Two modes – unassisted and assisted – are relevant in our tests. The latter involves giving clues to students, especially when the test questions would be difficult.
1. Memory — the students’ capability to recall knowledge unassisted and assisted (involves giving clues). Memory is vital and not a lesser skill. Anyone who tells you memorizing is unimportant is ignorant of how ‘Internalization’ works. Memory is the soil in which Mastery can possibly grow. Neither underplay it, nor overplay it. Balanced testing of memory is key.
2. Application —the student’s capability to use knowledge from one context to effectively succeed in a different but related context. For example, swimming in a village well, navigating a public swimming pool, bathing in a river, and near shore frolicking in the sea are not the same. Knowledge of floating and swimming should be ‘applied’ across the situations. Application demands creative thinking and judgment.
3. Imagination —the student’s capability to creatively use knowledge and produce novel, creative work outputs, including solutions to problems or even posing newer, never-before problems. Two types of Imagination exist – Grounded, and Generative (aka “Free Flight”). The first is grounded in existing knowledge to synergize newly discovered or identified entities including experiences. The second generates entirely novel entities including non-real ones.
4. Questioning —the student’s capability to use Critical Thinking and pose interesting questions to lead to fresh insights about entities. In fact, we should enhance our students’ potential to raise questions since we know the proverb, “a good question is worth more than a thousand answers”. This should be done by imparting “Critical Thinking” education to our students. We should note that all research works are based on questioning the existing research literature.
For superior ‘Assessment’, diligently integrate the ‘Action Verbs’ associated with Bloom’s Taxonomy with the above four dimensions. The traditional cryptic model of Shravanam (listening with focus), Mananam (reflecting deeply) and Nidhidhyaasanam (Internalizing via Meditating) is prescribed in Indian Knowledge Systems, particularly in the context of the process of gaining spiritual mastery. Our ancient philosophers understood this learning cycle aeons before it was formalized in the West. As explained above, we can easily adapt our traditional model to our contemporary Education Systems that are grounded in the world we live in, and not necessarily to the spiritual world. When we integrate the two, we derive a potent and powerful resource for our classrooms.
One final principle, and perhaps the most important: Our primary Dharmam as teachers begins with ourselves. We should be vessels of knowledge abundance while noting that we cannot pour sufficiently from lesser vessels and certainly not from an empty vessel. Taking care of our own body and mind is an imperative and not a casual affair., It is the precondition for everything else we do. We should be at war with ourselves in order to be intellectually strong or may be even superior, for the sake of shaping the character and building the competence of our students. Our primary Dharmam is to be ’self-caring’. Only then we will be able to fulfil our greater Dharmam of taking care of others, and especially our students. My Dharmam, yours, and every teacher’s in this room and online is to support each other and everyone else to play the Game of Life with the ultimate ideal of ensuring peace and harmony for one and all always and everywhere while upholding integrity and dignity. If this is not the Purpose of Education, then what is? Om Shanthih! Shanthih! Shanthih!
