Reinventing education: Beyond the traditional classroom
As the world grapples with the challenges of the 21st century, a new educational paradigm offers a glimmer of hope for a future where every child can unlock their full potential to become a force for positive change.
Dr Taddy Blecher, co-founder and CEO of the Maharishi Invincibility Institute, was joined by Vivian Lan, Director of Singularity Mexico and co-founder and CEO of Uma School of Conscious Education for a panel discussion about ‘Reinventing education: Beyond the traditional classroom’. This fascinating talk was moderated by Shayne Mann, co-CEO of SingularityU South Africa, during the second day of the SingularityU South Africa Summit 2024, in collaboration with Old Mutual.
These two visionary educators shared their groundbreaking approaches to reinventing the education system and moving beyond the traditional classroom. Dr Teddy Blecher has dedicated his life to transforming the lives of marginalised youth in South Africa through the Maharishi Invincibility Institute, which operates in 13 locations across five countries. It offers affordable education (R200 per month) to students from impoverished backgrounds, children of asylum seekers, and refugees.
Through his innovative "consciousness-based education" approach, Dr Blecher has empowered over 24 000 unemployed individuals in South Africa to find meaningful employment, with a 21 000 of them being currently employed with a combined income exceeding R1.7 billion.
"The most extraordinary thing in creation on Earth is a human being, and it's the most neglected thing in education,"
Dr Blecher passionately stated.
"We focus so much on what people learn, but we don't focus on the human being."
His institute incorporates simple, yet powerful practices like meditation, exercise, a nutritious plant-based diet, and adequate sleep to nourish the mind, body and spirit of its students because what is “far more important is the heart, the mind, creativity, and how a person works with other people”.
Lan was inspired by Dr Blecher's talk at Singularity Mexico in 2019, where she recalls him saying "We go to school for 20 years and we don't have a single class to learn who we are. How can we manage in life if we have no idea who we are?'"
Lan and her team at Uma Schools have embraced Dr Blecher's principles of consciousness-based education, translating them into a curriculum for children as young as 18 months. Their goal is to shift the focus of education from an "information process" to a "formation process" helping children develop a deep understanding of themselves and their place in the world beyond content-based exams and rote learning.
As the world grapples with the rapid advancements of artificial intelligence (AI), both Dr Blecher and Lan see this as an unprecedented opportunity to redefine the purpose of education. They believe that the key is not to have humans compete with AI, but to leverage technology to unlock the infinite potential of the human being.
"AI is a tool. Human beings have always used tools, but it's the most extraordinary tool we have ever had by miles, because the tool is intelligence itself,"
Dr Blecher explained.
Lan echoed this sentiment, emphasising the need to focus on developing skills like curiosity, creativity, and the ability to ask the right questions – qualities that will empower students to thrive in a future dominated by AI and technology.
“Anyone who says the future of education is technology is missing at least 50% of the equation,”
said Dr Blecher.
“It's about human evolution and developing these full, total human beings who can leverage these tools to solve anything, to create anything, do anything. And what a beautiful world will come when we have that kind of education,”
he added.
Their passionate conviction was palpable, and their work is a powerful testament to the transformative power of education when it is centred on the holistic development of the individual.
