By David Rycroft
What do you remember from your school days?
Many respond to this question by naming their favourite teacher and some of the more unusual things that we got up to, and maybe something that one of our teachers said to us that particularly resonated with us.
Favourite teacher?
What makes a teacher our ‘favourite teacher’?
It may well have been their mastery and passion for their subject, and we may even remember something that they taught us. For example, 35 years on, I still remember a lesson on the Renaissance that a brilliant, and rather eccentric, art historian taught us; the majority of what I know and love about Leonardo de Vinci is thanks to 45 minutes in 1988.
We may also chose our favourite teacher based on their personality – something about their obvious kindness and commitment to their profession earned them our respect. We probably did not thank them at the time, in fact, we may have seen them as scary rather than friendly. But, in hindsight, we are grateful for the care they took over our education.
It’s emotional
But both brilliance and care may not be enough to make someone our favourite teacher. Have you ever heard anyone talk about, for example, their ‘favourite bank manager’? Probably not. The reason we find it normal to talk about a ‘favourite teacher’ is that the relationship is human. It’s emotional. This person managed to inspire us. Their speech and behaviour resonated with us; maybe their attitude to authority was a little rebellious, like our own. If we can’t remember exactly what they taught us, we may well remember how they made us feel. This ability to be comfortable in oneself, ‘bien dans sa peau’ as the French say, and to connect with others on a heart level is precious. It’s a quality of ‘being’ that can make a huge difference in the way teachers – well, all of us – communicate.
Educating the heart
If you want to know the future, to see what society will be like in the next generation, one good place to look would be at the education of our young people today. Young people learn not only with the intellect – remembering and then forgetting facts – but also with the heart. The essence of ‘educating the heart’ is realising that we are all members of one human family. This is a powerful message articulated by the Dalai Lama, one that he has been advocating for many years. The key is that ‘educating the heart’ cannot be imparted through books; it happens invisibly, through osmosis. Students learn by absorbing what the teacher embodies and models.
Emotional health
When teachers embody self-awareness and emotional health, students learn by example and school cultures evolve accordingly. Because teachers’ moods set the tone for the whole school, it is crucial that schools actively take care of teachers’ emotional health. Any project looking at strengthening values of peace, social cohesion and eudaemonia in future society would do well, then, to start with the emotional health of today’s teachers.
Enseigner la paix
Motivated by such a wish, the European Buddhist Union launched an education project in January 2023. As the project recognises the important role of teachers, the project is called Teach Peace [teach-peace.org]. Teach Peace is a secular initiative, bringing tools for personal and societal peace to young people, whatever their gender, religion, ethnicity, disability or sexuality. The vision of Teach Peace is for schools to be beacons of human flourishing and social cohesion.
Vision
Teach Peace takes its vision from the primary aim of the EU, to ‘promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens’.
The approach of Teach Peace is to focus on training school teachers to introduce skills for cultivating peace and social cohesion to students. This training starts with school teachers cultivating peace for themselves. In the pilot phase of the project, around forty teachers from 5 schools in 4 European countries undergo an 18-hour training over 3 months. At the end of this, they introduce ‘peace skills’ to around 200 students in their school, simple exercises for cultivating both mental balance and social cohesion. The project will reach 1000 students by March 2024.
Teach Peace is partnering with three education charities to co-design interventions that are tailored to the particular needs of each school situation. The partner organisations are Mind With Heart [mindwithheart.org], The Foundation for Compassion and Wisdom [compassionandwisdom.org] and WakeUp Schools [wakeupschools.org].
One of the initial sources of inspiration for Teach Peace is the Dalai Lama, and his support of Gandhi’s message of non-violence. In his 2011 book Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World, the Dalai Lama puts the case for ‘secular ethics’ and how these can be transmitted through schools.
Approach
Peace means not only the lack of violent conflicts, but also the presence of justice and equity, as well as respect for human rights and for the Earth.
Peace involves both internal and external processes. When teachers embody peace and emotional health, students learn by example. Mary Gordon, the founder of education programme ‘Roots of Empathy’ says that ‘the absence of empathy is a common denominator in child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence. Empathy cannot be taught in the traditional ways, but it can be caught through experiential learning.’ Sustainable change towards a culture of peace happens when a critical mass of teachers in a school make a personal commitment to peace. This change takes time, and teachers persist because they see directly the benefit on both themselves and their students. Teachers lead by example.
Mind with Heart is an award-winning UK-based charity training teachers and students in sustainable wellbeing, emotional health and social connection. The experience of Mind With Heart shows that the most effective approach to improve the emotional climate of a school is to focus on the teachers. When a group of teachers work together to improve levels of peace and social connection, whole-school culture can change in a sustainable way.
Pilot phase
The Teach Peace website [teach-peace.org] was launched in March 2023 and school teachers in our networks were invited to express interest in building a Peace project in their school. From this initial communication, five schools are finalising preparations. Teachers will be trained and ready to introduce ‘peace tools’ to students in January 2024.
The focus on teachers, and starting with teachers’ well-being is a significant approach. Strengthening teacher well-being, and a common sense of purpose among teachers, may take longer to establish than other initiatives, but the results reach further. Our approach is to encourage co-design between experienced teacher-trainers and the teachers they are training. We also encourage trainers from different countries to share best practice with each other. We support self-reflection, and careful project design to fit the specific needs of each school.
Next steps
Relationships between teacher trainers and senior managers in schools have now been established. Teachers have been invited to commit to 18 hours of training. This is a significant commitment, on top of their already-overwhelming schedules. The next steps are for teachers to cultivate a sense of common purpose around the peace project, and to learn from experienced trainers what works (and what doesn’t) when introducing ‘peace tools’ to students of different ages. As a reward for their commitment to peace, teachers will be offered a 3-day retreat in beautiful and inspiring surroundings where they will have an opportunity to relax, share with each other and deepen their own experience of peace.
A quick experiment
Teach Peace is about experimenting first-hand with a range of exercises that promote peace (both inner and outer) and healthy social connection.
Are you ever an example for teenagers? Do you realise that you are shaping the future through the example you are setting? If so, would you consider reflecting on what helps you set a ‘good example’? Feel free to get in touch with Teach Peace to share your insights…
About the author
David Rycroft is director of Teach Peace. He is also a director of Mind With Heart, an international charity training teachers and students in sustainable wellbeing, emotional health and social connection. David has 20 years experience in training mindfulness instructors and school teachers in tools for emotional health and in sharing these with teenagers. Educated at Eton College and Edinburgh University, he taught art in a London secondary school for ten years before co-founding Mind With Heart. David is also a practising artist.
This article first appeared in EBU Magazine #11 – Buddhism and Education (Autumn 2023). Download the full issue as PDF or browse all issues.