Cultivating Good Habits in Education : หน้า 39/47

Teacher should remind themselves often that only good habits cultivate progress in academic and moral knowledge. Right Thought — About Human Survival, Livelihood and Interaction Right thought comes from the first view and the ability to overcome kilasa. All right action and right speech come from right thought. Wrong action and wrong speech come from wrong thought. When organizing activities for students, teachers should always give thought to and be sympathetic to the feelings and issues that arise between genders. When playing sports, teachers should be aware of students’ feelings of revenge, cheating, and unfair or ill treatment. Teachers should remind themselves that in creating good people by sowing the right moral and ethical seeds combined with academic knowledge, their pupils and following generations will enjoy greater peace and harmony. Right Speech — With Right Intentions and Mindfulness Students who have been trained to observe and practise the 10 Right Views will definitely not speak untruths or indulge in harsh, gossipy or divisive dialogue. Teachers may encourage the habit of good speech by promoting polite and endearing speech, and engaging in suitable activities such as words of devotion, praying, and reciting morally worthy words and texts in accordance with their cultures and accredited moral beliefs. Also, good speech may be developed by morally unifying group participation and appreciation in word or song, strengthening the human bonds of compassion, goodness and decency. Teachers should not say bad things about others behind their back or to their face but should instruct their pupils to follow the wisdom of this ethos. Right Action — Generates Good Kamma and Effects Teachers should instil the view that all knowledge one acquires should only be used with good intent, strictly within the guidelines of the first three precepts. TRAINING THE TRAINERS 76 Teacher should always behave with good etiquette and polite manners to maintain their credibility as suitable role models in society, thus encouraging the respect of their students to follow their example and instruction. Teachers should teach that the right view should never infringe on others’ rights. Right Livelihood — Is Based on Mindfully Applied Effort Teachers should stay in the minds of their students that every person has to play their part in society to the best of their ability. Self-reliance and social contribution depend on individual mental and physical abilities, effort, education and accepting responsibility for one’s actions to be successful as a self-sufficient good human being in this lifetime. Teachers should instil in the minds of their students that refuelling the four elements is the primary goal and the most important part of securing a sustainable and moral living. Purchasing the four requisites — food, clothing, shelter and medicines — is secondary to the primary purpose of sustaining a moral livelihood. In seeking to fuel the four elements and purchase the four requisites one has to be mindful that using the wrong methods creates baab. Also, word resources are limited; gathering more than is needed is greed and results in suffering both to ourselves and others. Those that are disadvantaged compared to ourselves become even more disadvantaged. Teachers should by prudent self-example, illustrate and instil in the minds of students the relevance and importance of avoiding the ‘Roads to Ruin’ and anything leading to suffering. Right Effort — Leads to Right Results Teachers must inform their pupils that to follow the principle of right effort, they must first cultivate the basic three virtuous habits of respect, patience and discipline. Right effort means making the effort to constantly reexamine themselves. If through self-examination a flaw is found, strive for the effort to correct it. When, through self-examination one finds goodness in oneself, make