It is the question students return to every September: "So, how was your summer vacation?" I fondly recall our family's summer car trips. Yet I also remember how impatient my sister and I became during my father’s frequent stops along the roadside. He loved to talk with other farmers in their fields, no matter where they farmed or what they grew.

Now I realize I’ve inherited that same tendency, except in my case the "field" is education. For the past 25 years I've visited every type of school I could find: prestigious college-prep, boarding, inner-city, rural, mountain-camp, Montessori, Waldorf, and more. With new charter schools, magnet schools, therapeutic schools, and home schools, education in America has never been more diverse.

The problems schools face are as varied as their educational approaches—students in high-powered college-preparatory schools feel internal pressure for lofty grades, while inner-city students are burdened by external threats to their safety.

Never before, however, have I seen so many schools—of all types—impacted by a single issue: the current concern about school violence. Today every public school superintendent is taking precautions to avoid the unthinkable, knowing they will be held accountable if violence breaks out. Even prestigious private schools are confronting the reality that they too must seek every reasonable means to avert this danger long before it arises. 

Schools are realizing that their responsibility to students extends far beyond grades and test scores. A school principal in New York recently pointed out in a New York Times article that the trend in American schools has been to treat principals like product managers, teachers like foremen, and students like high-end products. "In some ways," he said, "we innocently believed that schools could be purely focused on academics."

These officials are finally beginning to recognize what Maharishi's Consciousness- Based approach to education has been presenting for 40 years: Education will never be complete until it provides the means for both inner and outer development of students.

The most fundamental element of education is the quality of students' awareness, or consciousness. This is the basis, for example, of the students' alertness and receptivity when they enter the classroom. The systematic development of students’ consciousness—enlivening their receptivity, intelligence, and creativity—is the specialty of the Consciousness-Based education program.

As National Coordinator for this program in the United States, I've had an opportunity to visit our schools and projects around the country, including public, private and charter schools, as well as after-school programs. The smiling faces I see and the touching stories I hear from students, teachers, and administrators alike has only deepened my conviction that Consciousness-Based education, which includes the Transcendental Meditation program, is able to dissolve stress and unlock human potential in a way no other approach can.

Now that the tragic violence in schools has captured national attention, our office has received many inquiries from supporters of Consciousness-Based education who wish to present this alternative to their own schools. Professional educators who practice the TM program are stepping forward to bring this knowledge to their colleagues and school systems. Concerned parents are requesting Consciousness-Based education materials to give to their school officials.

In several cities, we have already helped organize successful presentations to local educators. We’re finding a new curiosity about what we have to offer and a refreshing receptivity to the information we present. The time is right for action, for educating the educators about this essential aspect of human development—the basis for success and fulfillment in school and in life.

I've heard politicians and parents make sweeping indictments of today's educational system, but when visiting schools myself I see mostly hardworking, dedicated, earnest teachers trying to make a difference in kids’ lives. They burn out because they care—but too often can’t succeed. Over 40 per-cent of new teachers leave within the first five years.

We shouldn't discount the efforts of these well-intentioned educators. They are addressing issues in the only way they can—from the knowledge base they have been given. It’s up to us to expand that knowledge base, to share with educators in all of these diverse settings our truly practical and effective solution. And research documents that it is a solution.

I sincerely hope that you will share this innovative approach with your local school officials. We have something precious to give to everyone—administrators, teachers, students and parents— the understanding of what consciousness is, and the means to develop it fully for a successful life. There is no greater gift, no more comprehensive program, that we can offer to our children, our educators, and our society.

How to Introduce Consciousness-Based Education Programs

1. Contact the National Office for Consciousness-Based education to receive up-to-date materials and assistance, including:

Presentation materials for administrators, faculty, students and parents.

Speakers for special large presentations or meetings with top officials.
Answers to specific questions about local concerns and implementation issues.

Support for establishing a full program—curriculum and faculty training materials, etc.

2. Meet with local educators (public and private schools, community after school programs, home school associations):

Is there a meditating teacher or administrator in the school system?

Do you or your friends have a good relationship with an educator?

Has there been a recent school issue in the news to which you can respond?

3. Purpose of the first meeting:

To introduce a practical, proven approach to develop student’s full creative potential, the basis of preventing school violence.

To describe the program's components, research base and results.

To discuss ways it could be implemented locally.

4. Points to emphasize about Consciousness-Based education:

Other programs approach the problem from the outside; this program functions from the inside—it’s something that all students can do for themselves.

It addresses problems at their source, before they explode into a crisis.

Research has shown it to be the most effective means of dissolving individual and social stress, enhancing mental potential, and promoting total brain development.

It has been successfully implemented in diverse settings, with immediate and measurable results.

Its holistic benefits make it a cost-effective program for any institution.

For more information on CBE programs:
Telephone: 828-264-8482; Fax: 828-264-1967; E-mail: info@ideal-ed.org
Web site: www.ideal-ed.org