A Free CD  If you would like a free copy of the CD "Awakening Intelligence in Students", a talk by Krishnamurti (with questions) to teachers at the Rishi Valley School in India in 1970,  to order. (Krishnamurti asks the question "how to awaken a quality of intelligence which will act adequately when any problem arises in the life of the student)

“…and I think the teaching profession is the highest profession in the world. Though one acquires very little money out of it I think it is the greatest thing. Really I do. Really think that. It isn’t just verbal rhetorical assertion. It’s the greatest thing, because in our hands lie the whole future generation".

 

A list of books, DVDs, etc of K in dialogue with teachers can be found  can be found on the book page.

 

An educator is not merely a giver of information; he is one who points the way to wisdom, to truth    #26.

Excerpts from J. Krishnamurti

	The right kind of education
	When you decide you want to teach
	Being vulnerable to life
	Educational systems
	Beyond the sanctions of society
	Authority is a hindrance
	Freedom
	Only a job
	Dissatisfaction
	"Why do we find pleasure in our games and not in our studies?"
	"What is the true function of a teacher"?
	From the Introduction to Krishnamurti's Book "Life Ahead"
	Is Modern Education a Complete Failure?

 

 

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The following quotes are taken from Chapter 6 'Parents And Teachers' "Education And The Significance Of Life" by J Krishnamurti

 

 

The right kind of education begins with the educator, who must understand himself and be free from established patterns of thought; for what he is, that he imparts. If he has not been rightly educated, what can he teach except the same mechanical knowledge on which he himself has been brought up? The problem, therefore, is not the child, but the parent and the teacher; the problem is to educate the educator.          If we who are the educators do not understand ourselves, if we do not understand our relationship with the child but merely stuff him with information and make him pass examinations, how can we possibly bring about a new kind of education? The pupil is there to be guided and helped; but if the guide, the helper is himself confused and narrow, nationalistic and theory-ridden, then naturally his pupil will be what he is, and education becomes a source of further confusion and strife.          If we see the truth of this, we will realize how important it is that we begin to educate ourselves rightly. To be concerned with our own re-education is far more necessary than to worry about the future well-being and security of the child.          To educate the educator - that is, to have him understand himself - is one of the most difficult undertakings, because most of us are already crystallized within a system of thought or a pattern of action; we have already given ourselves over to some ideology, to a religion, or to a particular standard of conduct. That is why we teach the child what to think and not how to think.      return to top of page       The first thing a teacher must ask himself, when he decides that he wants to teach, is what exactly he means by teaching. Is he going to teach the usual subjects in the habitual way? Does he want to condition the child to become a cog in the social machine, or help him to be an integrated, creative human being, a threat to false values? And if the educator is to help the student to examine and understand the values and influences that surround him and of which he is a part, must he not be aware of them himself? If one is blind, can one help others to cross to the other shore?      Surely, the teacher himself must first begin to see. He must be constantly alert, intensely aware of his own thoughts and feelings, aware of the ways in which he is conditioned, aware of his activities and his responses; for out of this watchfulness comes intelligence, and with it a radical transformation in his relationship to people and to things.  return to top of page        How can we teach children not to seek personal security if we ourselves are pursuing it? What hope is there for the child if we who are parents and teachers are not entirely vulnerable to life, if we erect protective walls around ourselves? To discover the true significance of this struggle for security, which is causing such chaos in the world, we must begin to awaken our own intelligence by being aware of our psychological processes; we must begin to question all the values which now enclose us.    return to top of page     Merely to follow a system, whether political or educational, will never solve our many social problems; and it is far more important to understand the manner of our approach to any problem, than to understand the problem itself.    return to top of page         The right kind of educator has no authority, no power in society; he is beyond the edicts and sanctions of society.    return to top of page        All authority is a hindrance, and it is essential that the educator should not become an authority for the student.    return to top of page        Because he is devoted solely to the freedom and integration of the individual, the right kind of educator is deeply and truly religious. He does not belong to any sect, to any organized religion; he is free of beliefs and rituals, for he knows that they are only illusions, fancies, superstitions projected by the desires of those who create them. He knows that reality or God comes into being only when there is self-knowledge and therefore freedom.    return to top of page      As long as education is only a job like any other, conflict and enmity among individuals and among the various class levels of society are inevitable; there will be increasing competition, the ruthless pursuit of personal ambition, and the building up of the national and racial divisions which create antagonism and endless wars.    return to top of page        If we are in earnest about being the right kind of teachers, we shall be thoroughly dissatisfied, not with a particular system of education, but with all systems, because we see that no educational method can free the individual. A method or a system may condition him to a different set of values, but it cannot make him free.   return to top of page