NHE Conference Taipei , Taiwan
September 10-11

By Didi Sananda, DSL Taipei
 

Taiwan is right now in the season of hurricanes. When the hurricane comes, the government announces an emergency and everyone stays at home. And in Taiwan , a place where people work very hard and long hours, it becomes a welcomed extra holiday. This time the hurricane chose to come during our NHE conference, so two days became one day, and we tried to utilize this one day together as much as possible.

 
 

The morning workshop was given by Abha who is originally from the Philippines and has been living in Taiwan for the last three years. She has worked in the field of education for over twenty years. The workshop was called The Journey of Cultural Subjects towards a Universal Sentiment . She presented different materials that she has been developing over the past three years; she is influenced by the Montessori way of teaching and is combining ideas into new exciting material. One of her ideas is the timeline which gives the children an understanding of the relationships in time, place and person. It is one very long piece of paper that you spread out on the floor and the children are given cards to match different seasons, persons, dresses, and so it gives them a clear understanding of the relationships in time.

 

The afternoon followed with a class given by Yatindra, principal of the Sarkar school. The Sarkar School is our elementary school in the south of Taiwan . They have recently moved into a new place which is exceptionally beautiful with high quality and standards. The setting for the school is ideal, right close to nature with scope for many activities. Yatindra gave an interesting class about a practical approach to discipline and how to bring Yama and Niyama and discipline into the classroom. The day ended with a brainstorming session and discussions on how to continue communication between NHE educators in Taiwan .

We decided to hold an NHE Conference every six months and also to start a blog on the web so we can more easily share information through the internet. So, hurricane or not, we had an inspiring day together and left filled with hope for the future.
 
 
EducationEducation Training Camp Madhu Karuna , Germany
July 25-26
 

The two day Berlin Sector ETC at Madhu Karuna was organized by Didi Ananda Bhadra and was well attended by 30 participants. There were four NHE workshops. The first workshop, Neohumanist Education for All , was a power point presentation by Didi Anandarama outlining Ananda Marga Gurukula and Neohumanist Education. The second workshop, Observing Young Children: Surprising and Powerful , was presented by Ruai Gregory, an early childhood professor from the USA . Didi Ananda Laghima presented the third workshop on the Management and Administration of Neohumanist Schools and Svarna Vukusic from Croatia gave a workshop on Gifted Children . The evening programs were a Creative Games workshop led by Dada Maheshvarananda the first evening, and a collective AMGK NHE meeting the second evening co-chaired by Didi Anandarama and Arete Brim from the USA , with Kulapati, Dada Shambhushivananda in attendance as well. Notes from the Neohumanist Education for All power point presentation are included in this issue of Gurukula Network.